diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 5e2797e3..66a72b34 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -2,9 +2,4 @@ source "https://rubygems.org"
 
 gemspec
 
-gem "json", :platforms => :mri_18
-
-group :development do
-  gem "rake"
-  gem "minitest", '~> 5.0'
-end
+gem "json", ">= 1.7", :platforms => [:mri_18, :mri_19]
diff --git a/README.textile b/README.textile
index 43208826..5c0de191 100644
--- a/README.textile
+++ b/README.textile
@@ -278,6 +278,32 @@ data = {
 JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :version => :draft2)
 </pre>
 
+h3. Explicitly specifying the type of the data
+
+By default, json-schema accepts a variety of different types for the data parameter, and it will try to work out what to do with it dynamically. You can pass it a string uri (in which case it will download the json from that location before validating), a string of JSON text, or simply a ruby object (such as an array or hash representing parsed json). However, sometimes the nature of the data is ambiguous (for example, is "http://github.com" just a string, or is it a uri?). In other situations, you have already parsed your JSON, and you don't need to re-parse it.
+
+If you want to be explict about what kind of data is being parsed, JSON schema supports a number of options:
+
+<pre>
+require 'rubygems'
+require 'json-schema'
+
+schema = {
+  "type" => "string"
+}
+
+# examines the data, determines it's a uri, then tries to load data from it
+JSON::Validator.validate(schema, 'https://api.github.com') # returns false
+
+# data is already parsed json - just accept it as-is
+JSON::Validator.validate(schema, 'https://api.github.com', :parse_data => false) # returns true
+
+# data is parsed to a json string
+JSON::Validator.validate(schema, '"https://api.github.com"', :json => true) # returns true
+
+# loads data from the uri
+JSON::Validator.validate(schema, 'https://api.github.com', :uri => true) # returns false
+</pre>
 
 h3. Extend an existing schema and validate against it
 
diff --git a/gemfiles/Gemfile.multi_json.x b/gemfiles/Gemfile.multi_json.x
index e9d7839e..349d18d8 100644
--- a/gemfiles/Gemfile.multi_json.x
+++ b/gemfiles/Gemfile.multi_json.x
@@ -3,7 +3,3 @@ source "https://rubygems.org"
 gemspec :path => "../"
 
 gem "multi_json"
-
-group :development do
-  gem "rake"
-end
diff --git a/gemfiles/Gemfile.uuidtools.x b/gemfiles/Gemfile.uuidtools.x
index 27f466c4..e3f30e93 100644
--- a/gemfiles/Gemfile.uuidtools.x
+++ b/gemfiles/Gemfile.uuidtools.x
@@ -3,7 +3,3 @@ source "https://rubygems.org"
 gemspec :path => "../"
 
 gem "uuidtools"
-
-group :development do
-  gem "rake"
-end
diff --git a/gemfiles/Gemfile.yajl-ruby.x b/gemfiles/Gemfile.yajl-ruby.x
index 7ba39542..c9f10cca 100644
--- a/gemfiles/Gemfile.yajl-ruby.x
+++ b/gemfiles/Gemfile.yajl-ruby.x
@@ -3,7 +3,3 @@ source "https://rubygems.org"
 gemspec :path => "../"
 
 gem "yajl-ruby"
-
-group :development do
-  gem "rake"
-end
diff --git a/json-schema.gemspec b/json-schema.gemspec
index c63e1d84..33609fc0 100644
--- a/json-schema.gemspec
+++ b/json-schema.gemspec
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.license = "MIT"
   s.required_rubygems_version = ">= 1.8"
 
+  s.add_development_dependency "rake"
+  s.add_development_dependency "minitest", '~> 5.0'
   s.add_development_dependency "webmock"
+
   s.add_runtime_dependency "addressable", '~> 2.3'
 end
diff --git a/lib/json-schema/validator.rb b/lib/json-schema/validator.rb
index ff17c27e..e991a647 100644
--- a/lib/json-schema/validator.rb
+++ b/lib/json-schema/validator.rb
@@ -24,7 +24,8 @@ class Validator
       :errors_as_objects => false,
       :insert_defaults => false,
       :clear_cache => true,
-      :strict => false
+      :strict => false,
+      :parse_data => true
     }
     @@validators = {}
     @@default_validator = nil
@@ -400,7 +401,7 @@ def parse(s)
         else
           case @@json_backend.to_s
           when 'json'
-            JSON.parse(s)
+            JSON.parse(s, :quirks_mode => true)
           when 'yajl'
             json = StringIO.new(s)
             parser = Yajl::Parser.new
@@ -550,20 +551,22 @@ def initialize_schema(schema)
 
 
     def initialize_data(data)
-      if @options[:json]
-        data = JSON::Validator.parse(data)
-      elsif @options[:uri]
-        json_uri = normalized_uri(data)
-        data = JSON::Validator.parse(custom_open(json_uri))
-      elsif data.is_a?(String)
-        begin
+      if @options[:parse_data]
+        if @options[:json]
           data = JSON::Validator.parse(data)
-        rescue
+        elsif @options[:uri]
+          json_uri = normalized_uri(data)
+          data = JSON::Validator.parse(custom_open(json_uri))
+        elsif data.is_a?(String)
           begin
-            json_uri = normalized_uri(data)
-            data = JSON::Validator.parse(custom_open(json_uri))
+            data = JSON::Validator.parse(data)
           rescue
-            # Silently discard the error - the data will not change
+            begin
+              json_uri = normalized_uri(data)
+              data = JSON::Validator.parse(custom_open(json_uri))
+            rescue
+              # Silently discard the error - the data will not change
+            end
           end
         end
       end
diff --git a/test/test_bad_schema_ref.rb b/test/test_bad_schema_ref.rb
index 920c8dd8..ef4d9761 100644
--- a/test/test_bad_schema_ref.rb
+++ b/test/test_bad_schema_ref.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 require File.expand_path('../test_helper', __FILE__)
-require 'webmock'
 require 'socket'
 
 
diff --git a/test/test_common_test_suite.rb b/test/test_common_test_suite.rb
index adcd40bb..3c9d3aff 100644
--- a/test/test_common_test_suite.rb
+++ b/test/test_common_test_suite.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 require File.expand_path('../test_helper', __FILE__)
-require 'webmock'
 require 'json'
 
 class CommonTestSuiteTest < Minitest::Test
@@ -26,11 +25,7 @@ class CommonTestSuiteTest < Minitest::Test
     ]
   })
 
-  include WebMock::API
-
   def setup
-    WebMock.enable!
-
     Dir["#{TEST_DIR}/../remotes/**/*.json"].each do |path|
       schema = path.sub(%r{^.*/remotes/}, '')
       stub_request(:get, "http://localhost:1234/#{schema}").
@@ -38,11 +33,6 @@ def setup
     end
   end
 
-  def teardown
-    WebMock.disable!
-    WebMock.reset!
-  end
-
   Dir["#{TEST_DIR}/*"].each do |suite|
     version = File.basename(suite).to_sym
     Dir["#{suite}/**/*.json"].each do |tfile|
@@ -63,6 +53,7 @@ def teardown
           define_method("test_#{err_id}") do
             errors = JSON::Validator.fully_validate(schema,
               t["data"],
+              :parse_data => false,
               :validate_schema => true,
               :version => version
             )
diff --git a/test/test_helper.rb b/test/test_helper.rb
index 962eeb38..14510863 100644
--- a/test/test_helper.rb
+++ b/test/test_helper.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 require 'minitest/autorun'
+require 'webmock/minitest'
 
 $:.unshift(File.expand_path('../../lib', __FILE__))
 require 'json-schema'
diff --git a/test/test_initialize_data.rb b/test/test_initialize_data.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..452830b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test_initialize_data.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,135 @@
+require File.expand_path('../test_helper', __FILE__)
+
+class InitializeDataTest < Minitest::Test
+
+  def refute_block(&blk)
+    result = blk.call
+    refute(result)
+  end
+
+  def test_parse_character_string
+    schema = {'type' => 'string'}
+    data = 'hello world'
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data))
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :parse_data => false))
+
+    refute_block do
+      begin
+        JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :json => true)
+      rescue
+        false
+      end
+    end
+
+    assert_raises(Errno::ENOENT) { JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :uri => true) }
+  end
+
+  def test_parse_integer_string
+    schema = {'type' => 'integer'}
+    data = '42'
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data))
+
+    refute(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :parse_data => false))
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :json => true))
+
+    assert_raises(Errno::ENOENT) { JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :uri => true) }
+  end
+
+  def test_parse_hash_string
+    schema = { 'type' => 'object', 'properties' => { 'a' => { 'type' => 'string' } } }
+    data = '{"a": "b"}'
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data))
+
+    refute(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :parse_data => false))
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :json => true))
+
+    assert_raises(Errno::ENOENT) { JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :uri => true) }
+  end
+
+  def test_parse_json_string
+    schema = {'type' => 'string'}
+    data = '"hello world"'
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data))
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :parse_data => false))
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :json => true))
+
+    assert_raises(Errno::ENOENT) { JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :uri => true) }
+  end
+
+  def test_parse_valid_uri_string
+    schema = {'type' => 'string'}
+    data = 'http://foo.bar/'
+
+    stub_request(:get, "foo.bar").to_return(:body => '"hello world"', :status => 200)
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data))
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :parse_data => false))
+
+    refute_block do
+      begin
+        JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :json => true)
+      rescue
+        false
+      end
+    end
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :uri => true))
+  end
+
+  def test_parse_invalid_uri_string
+    schema = {'type' => 'string'}
+    data = 'http://foo.bar/'
+
+    stub_request(:get, "foo.bar").to_timeout
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data))
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :parse_data => false))
+
+    refute_block do
+      begin
+        JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :json => true)
+      rescue
+        false
+      end
+    end
+
+    assert_raises(Timeout::Error) { JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :uri => true) }
+  end
+
+  def test_parse_integer
+    schema = {'type' => 'integer'}
+    data = 42
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data))
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :parse_data => false))
+
+    assert_raises(TypeError) { JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :json => true) }
+
+    assert_raises(TypeError) { JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :uri => true) }
+  end
+
+  def test_parse_hash
+    schema = { 'type' => 'object', 'properties' => { 'a' => { 'type' => 'string' } } }
+    data = { 'a' => 'b' }
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data))
+
+    assert(JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :parse_data => false))
+
+    assert_raises(TypeError) { JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :json => true) }
+
+    assert_raises(TypeError) { JSON::Validator.validate(schema, data, :uri => true) }
+  end
+end