diff --git a/lib/_stream_readable.js b/lib/_stream_readable.js
index 702d87b549b857..e71ea0cae57ed0 100644
--- a/lib/_stream_readable.js
+++ b/lib/_stream_readable.js
@@ -68,11 +68,20 @@ function ReadableState(options, stream) {
   // the point at which it stops calling _read() to fill the buffer
   // Note: 0 is a valid value, means "don't call _read preemptively ever"
   var hwm = options.highWaterMark;
-  var defaultHwm = this.objectMode ? 16 : 16 * 1024;
-  this.highWaterMark = (hwm || hwm === 0) ? hwm : defaultHwm;
+  if (hwm == null) {
+    this.highWaterMark = this.objectMode ? 16 : 16 * 1024;
+  } else {
+    if (typeof hwm !== 'number') {
+      throw new TypeError('"highWaterMark" must be a number');
+    }
 
-  // cast to ints.
-  this.highWaterMark = Math.floor(this.highWaterMark);
+    if (hwm < 0) {
+      throw new RangeError('"highWaterMark" must not be negative');
+    }
+
+    // cast to ints.
+    this.highWaterMark = Math.floor(hwm);
+  }
 
   // A linked list is used to store data chunks instead of an array because the
   // linked list can remove elements from the beginning faster than
diff --git a/lib/_stream_writable.js b/lib/_stream_writable.js
index c3c2ce0710ad18..ca039b0c8b573f 100644
--- a/lib/_stream_writable.js
+++ b/lib/_stream_writable.js
@@ -51,11 +51,20 @@ function WritableState(options, stream) {
   // Note: 0 is a valid value, means that we always return false if
   // the entire buffer is not flushed immediately on write()
   var hwm = options.highWaterMark;
-  var defaultHwm = this.objectMode ? 16 : 16 * 1024;
-  this.highWaterMark = (hwm || hwm === 0) ? hwm : defaultHwm;
+  if (hwm == null) {
+    this.highWaterMark = this.objectMode ? 16 : 16 * 1024;
+  } else {
+    if (typeof hwm !== 'number') {
+      throw new TypeError('"highWaterMark" must be a number');
+    }
 
-  // cast to ints.
-  this.highWaterMark = Math.floor(this.highWaterMark);
+    if (hwm < 0) {
+      throw new RangeError('"highWaterMark" must not be negative');
+    }
+
+    // cast to ints.
+    this.highWaterMark = Math.floor(hwm);
+  }
 
   // drain event flag.
   this.needDrain = false;
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-streams-highwatermark.js b/test/parallel/test-streams-highwatermark.js
index aca2415bd8e15f..cd83a0aa382e78 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-streams-highwatermark.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-streams-highwatermark.js
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@
 require('../common');
 
 // This test ensures that the stream implementation correctly handles values
-// for highWaterMark which exceed the range of signed 32 bit integers.
+// for highWaterMark which exceed the range of signed 32 bit integers and
+// rejects invalid values.
 
 const assert = require('assert');
 const stream = require('stream');
@@ -16,3 +17,21 @@ assert.strictEqual(readable._readableState.highWaterMark, ovfl);
 
 const writable = stream.Writable({ highWaterMark: ovfl });
 assert.strictEqual(writable._writableState.highWaterMark, ovfl);
+
+[true, false, '5', {}].forEach((invalidValue) => {
+  assert.throws(() => {
+    stream.Readable({ highWaterMark: invalidValue });
+  }, /^TypeError: "highWaterMark" must be a number$/);
+
+  assert.throws(() => {
+    stream.Writable({ highWaterMark: invalidValue });
+  }, /^TypeError: "highWaterMark" must be a number$/);
+});
+
+assert.throws(() => {
+  stream.Readable({ highWaterMark: -5 });
+}, /^RangeError: "highWaterMark" must not be negative$/);
+
+assert.throws(() => {
+  stream.Writable({ highWaterMark: -5 });
+}, /^RangeError: "highWaterMark" must not be negative$/);