diff --git a/index.d.ts b/index.d.ts
index 51c94b4..212c770 100644
--- a/index.d.ts
+++ b/index.d.ts
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ interface ValidatorOptions {
   allErrors?: boolean
   contentValidation?: boolean
   dryRun?: boolean
+  lint?: boolean
   allowUnusedKeywords?: boolean
   allowUnreachable?: boolean
   requireSchema?: boolean
@@ -137,18 +138,28 @@ interface Parse {
   toJSON(): Schema
 }
 
+interface LintError {
+  message: string
+  keywordLocation: string
+  schema: Schema
+}
+
 declare const validator: (schema: Schema, options?: ValidatorOptions) => Validate
 
 declare const parser: (schema: Schema, options?: ValidatorOptions) => Parse
 
+declare const lint: (schema: Schema, options?: ValidatorOptions) => LintError[]
+
 export {
   validator,
   parser,
+  lint,
   Validate,
   ValidationError,
   ValidatorOptions,
   ParseResult,
   Parse,
+  LintError,
   Json,
   Schema,
 }
diff --git a/src/compile.js b/src/compile.js
index 95aa813..a73cd5a 100644
--- a/src/compile.js
+++ b/src/compile.js
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ const compileSchema = (schema, root, opts, scope, basePathRoot = '') => {
     allErrors = false,
     contentValidation,
     dryRun, // unused, just for rest siblings
+    lint: lintOnly = false,
     allowUnusedKeywords = opts.mode === 'lax',
     allowUnreachable = opts.mode === 'lax',
     requireSchema = opts.mode === 'strong',
@@ -215,9 +216,21 @@ const compileSchema = (schema, root, opts, scope, basePathRoot = '') => {
     }
     const errorIf = (condition, errorArgs) => fun.if(condition, () => error(errorArgs))
 
+    if (lintOnly && !scope.lintErrors) scope.lintErrors = [] // we can do this as we don't build functions in lint-only mode
     const fail = (msg, value) => {
       const comment = value !== undefined ? ` ${JSON.stringify(value)}` : ''
-      throw new Error(`${msg}${comment} at ${joinPath(basePathRoot, toPointer(schemaPath))}`)
+      const keywordLocation = joinPath(basePathRoot, toPointer(schemaPath))
+      const message = `${msg}${comment} at ${keywordLocation}`
+      if (lintOnly) return scope.lintErrors.push({ message, keywordLocation, schema }) // don't fail if we are just collecting all errors
+      throw new Error(message)
+    }
+    const patternTestSafe = (pat, key) => {
+      try {
+        return patternTest(pat, key)
+      } catch (e) {
+        fail(e.message)
+        return format('false') // for lint-only mode
+      }
     }
     const enforce = (ok, ...args) => ok || fail(...args)
     const laxMode = (ok, ...args) => enforce(mode === 'lax' || ok, ...args)
@@ -271,8 +284,12 @@ const compileSchema = (schema, root, opts, scope, basePathRoot = '') => {
       // opt-out on null is explicit in both places here, don't set default
       consume(prop, ...ruleTypes)
       if (handler !== null) {
-        const condition = handler(node[prop])
-        if (condition !== null) errorIf(condition, { path: [prop], ...errorArgs })
+        try {
+          const condition = handler(node[prop])
+          if (condition !== null) errorIf(condition, { path: [prop], ...errorArgs })
+        } catch (e) {
+          fail(e.message) // for lint-only mode
+        }
       }
       return true
     }
@@ -507,7 +524,7 @@ const compileSchema = (schema, root, opts, scope, basePathRoot = '') => {
     const additionalCondition = (key, properties, patternProperties) =>
       safeand(
         ...properties.map((p) => format('%s !== %j', key, p)),
-        ...patternProperties.map((p) => safenot(patternTest(p, key)))
+        ...patternProperties.map((p) => safenot(patternTestSafe(p, key)))
       )
     const lintRequired = (properties, patterns) => {
       const regexps = patterns.map((p) => new RegExp(p, 'u'))
@@ -586,7 +603,7 @@ const compileSchema = (schema, root, opts, scope, basePathRoot = '') => {
         handle('pattern', ['string'], (pattern) => {
           enforceRegex(pattern)
           evaluateDelta({ fullstring: true })
-          return noopRegExps.has(pattern) ? null : safenot(patternTest(pattern, name))
+          return noopRegExps.has(pattern) ? null : safenot(patternTestSafe(pattern, name))
         })
 
         enforce(node.contentSchema !== false, 'contentSchema cannot be set to false')
@@ -806,7 +823,7 @@ const compileSchema = (schema, root, opts, scope, basePathRoot = '') => {
           forObjectKeys(current, (sub, key) => {
             for (const p of Object.keys(patternProperties)) {
               enforceRegex(p, node.propertyNames || {})
-              fun.if(patternTest(p, key), () => {
+              fun.if(patternTestSafe(p, key), () => {
                 rule(sub, patternProperties[p], subPath('patternProperties', p))
               })
             }
@@ -1159,7 +1176,10 @@ const compileSchema = (schema, root, opts, scope, basePathRoot = '') => {
       handle('$ref', ['string'], ($ref) => {
         const resolved = resolveReference(root, schemas, $ref, basePath())
         const [sub, subRoot, path] = resolved[0] || []
-        if (!sub && sub !== false) fail('failed to resolve $ref:', $ref)
+        if (!sub && sub !== false) {
+          fail('failed to resolve $ref:', $ref)
+          if (lintOnly) return null // failures are just collected in linter mode and don't throw, this makes a ref noop
+        }
         if (sub.type) {
           // This could be done better, but for now we check only the direct type in the $ref
           const type = Array.isArray(sub.type) ? sub.type : [sub.type]
@@ -1305,10 +1325,12 @@ const compileSchema = (schema, root, opts, scope, basePathRoot = '') => {
 
   fun.write('}')
 
-  validate = fun.makeFunction(scope)
-  validate[evaluatedStatic] = stat
-  delete scope[funname] // more logical key order
-  scope[funname] = validate
+  if (!lintOnly) {
+    validate = fun.makeFunction(scope)
+    validate[evaluatedStatic] = stat
+    delete scope[funname] // more logical key order
+    scope[funname] = validate
+  }
   return funname
 }
 
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 2ebd3de..8595643 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ const validator = (
   const options = { mode, ...opts, schemas: buildSchemas(schemas, arg), isJSON: willJSON }
   const { scope, refs } = compile(arg, options) // only a single ref
   if (opts.dryRun) return
+  if (opts.lint) return scope.lintErrors
   const fun = genfun()
   if (parse) {
     scope.parseWrap = opts.includeErrors ? parseWithErrors : parseWithoutErrors
@@ -89,4 +90,9 @@ const parser = function(schema, { parse = true, ...opts } = {}) {
   return validator(schema, { parse, ...opts })
 }
 
-module.exports = { validator, parser }
+const lint = function(schema, { lint = true, ...opts } = {}) {
+  if (!lint) throw new Error('can not disable lint option in lint()')
+  return validator(schema, { lint, ...opts })
+}
+
+module.exports = { validator, parser, lint }