diff --git a/esvsearch.d b/esvsearch.d
index 24085ae..17b1c24 100644
--- a/esvsearch.d
+++ b/esvsearch.d
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import cf = config;
 @safe:
 
 string cFlag; /* config path */
+bool   eFlag; /* exact matches */
 bool   VFlag; /* show version */
 
 int
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ main(string[] args)
 			config.bundling,
 			config.caseSensitive,
 			"c", &cFlag,
+			"e", &eFlag,
 			"V", &VFlag,
 		);
 	} catch (GetOptException e) {
@@ -75,6 +77,7 @@ main(string[] args)
 	}
 
 	query = args[1].dup();
+	query = eFlag ? `"` ~ query ~ `"` : query;
 
 	/* determine configuration file: options take first priority,
 	 * then environment variables, and then the default path */
@@ -102,6 +105,10 @@ main(string[] args)
 
 	esv = ESVApi(apiKey);
 
+	foreach (char ch; args[1]) {
+		enforceDie(ch != '"', "query is invalid; remove any double quotes");
+	}
+
 	try
 		writeln(esv.searchFormat(query));
 	catch (ESVException)