diff --git a/protocol/protocol.go b/protocol/protocol.go
index 6d2861c..2a22106 100644
--- a/protocol/protocol.go
+++ b/protocol/protocol.go
@@ -20,6 +20,14 @@ func IsSecure() bool {
 	return Secure == "true"
 }
 
+// ClientStrictValidation gives hints to the protocol implementations that
+// a client does not wish to be fully validated, this is because validation
+// can often be very slow so clients can elect to disable that.
+//
+// It's not mandatory for a specific version of implementation of the protocol
+// to do anything with this, so it's merely a hint
+var ClientStrictValidation = true
+
 // Additional to these the package for a specific version must also provide these constructors
 // with signature matching those in v1/constructors.go these are in use by mcollective/protocol.gos
 
diff --git a/protocol/v1/reply.go b/protocol/v1/reply.go
index 2fe2d50..5cd321e 100644
--- a/protocol/v1/reply.go
+++ b/protocol/v1/reply.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/choria-io/go-protocol/protocol"
 )
 
 type reply struct {
@@ -100,6 +102,10 @@ func (r *reply) Version() string {
 
 // IsValidJSON validates the given JSON data against the schema
 func (r *reply) IsValidJSON(data string) (err error) {
+	if !protocol.ClientStrictValidation {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	_, errors, err := schemas.Validate(schemas.ReplyV1, data)
 	if err != nil {
 		err = fmt.Errorf("Could not validate Reply JSON data: %s", err)
diff --git a/protocol/v1/security_reply.go b/protocol/v1/security_reply.go
index be4bd79..b8f5239 100644
--- a/protocol/v1/security_reply.go
+++ b/protocol/v1/security_reply.go
@@ -85,6 +85,10 @@ func (r *secureReply) Version() string {
 
 // IsValidJSON validates the given JSON data against the schema
 func (r *secureReply) IsValidJSON(data string) (err error) {
+	if !protocol.ClientStrictValidation {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	_, errors, err := schemas.Validate(schemas.SecureReplyV1, data)
 	if err != nil {
 		err = fmt.Errorf("Could not validate SecureReply JSON data: %s", err)
diff --git a/protocol/v1/transport.go b/protocol/v1/transport.go
index 09ef4f9..096454d 100644
--- a/protocol/v1/transport.go
+++ b/protocol/v1/transport.go
@@ -235,6 +235,10 @@ func (m *transportMessage) Version() string {
 
 // IsValidJSON validates the given JSON data against the Transport schema
 func (m *transportMessage) IsValidJSON(data string) (err error) {
+	if !protocol.ClientStrictValidation {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	_, errors, err := schemas.Validate(schemas.TransportV1, data)
 	if err != nil {
 		err = fmt.Errorf("Could not validate Transport JSON data: %s", err)