diff --git a/plugin/secondary/setup.go b/plugin/secondary/setup.go
index 22f0d3224..f8b190b53 100644
--- a/plugin/secondary/setup.go
+++ b/plugin/secondary/setup.go
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ func secondaryParse(c *caddy.Controller) (file.Zones, error) {
 				names = append(names, origins[i])
 			}
 
+			hasTransfer := false
 			for c.NextBlock() {
 				var f []string
 
@@ -82,6 +83,7 @@ func secondaryParse(c *caddy.Controller) (file.Zones, error) {
 					if err != nil {
 						return file.Zones{}, err
 					}
+					hasTransfer = true
 				default:
 					return file.Zones{}, c.Errf("unknown property '%s'", c.Val())
 				}
@@ -93,6 +95,9 @@ func secondaryParse(c *caddy.Controller) (file.Zones, error) {
 					z[origin].Upstream = upstream.New()
 				}
 			}
+			if !hasTransfer {
+				return file.Zones{}, c.Err("secondary zones require a transfer from property")
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	return file.Zones{Z: z, Names: names}, nil
diff --git a/plugin/secondary/setup_test.go b/plugin/secondary/setup_test.go
index 4985ec5b6..dbf1cb663 100644
--- a/plugin/secondary/setup_test.go
+++ b/plugin/secondary/setup_test.go
@@ -13,12 +13,6 @@ func TestSecondaryParse(t *testing.T) {
 		transferFrom   string
 		zones          []string
 	}{
-		{
-			`secondary`,
-			false, // TODO(miek): should actually be true, because without transfer lines this does not make sense
-			"",
-			nil,
-		},
 		{
 			`secondary {
 				transfer from 127.0.0.1
@@ -35,6 +29,20 @@ func TestSecondaryParse(t *testing.T) {
 			"127.0.0.1:53",
 			[]string{"example.org."},
 		},
+		{
+			`secondary`,
+			true,
+			"",
+			nil,
+		},
+		{
+			`secondary example.org {
+				transferr from 127.0.0.1
+			}`,
+			true,
+			"",
+			nil,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for i, test := range tests {