diff --git a/src/Valitron/Validator.php b/src/Valitron/Validator.php
index e08be03..0f97ace 100644
--- a/src/Valitron/Validator.php
+++ b/src/Valitron/Validator.php
@@ -1199,6 +1199,9 @@ class Validator
         foreach ($rules as $ruleType => $params) {
             if (is_array($params)) {
                 foreach ($params as $innerParams) {
+                    if (! is_array($innerParams)){
+                        $innerParams = (array) $innerParams;
+                    }
                     array_unshift($innerParams, $ruleType);
                     call_user_func_array(array($this, 'rule'), $innerParams);
                 }
diff --git a/tests/Valitron/ValidateTest.php b/tests/Valitron/ValidateTest.php
index dbb048b..e6794d7 100644
--- a/tests/Valitron/ValidateTest.php
+++ b/tests/Valitron/ValidateTest.php
@@ -892,6 +892,17 @@ class ValidateTest extends BaseTestCase
         $this->assertEquals($v1->errors(), $v2->errors());
     }
 
+    public function testMalformedBulkRules(){
+     $v = new Validator();
+     $v->rules(
+         array(
+            'required'=>array('foo', 'bar')
+         )
+     );
+
+     $this->assertFalse($v->validate());
+    }
+
     public function testCustomLabelInMessage()
     {
         $v = new Valitron\Validator(array());