diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 0aa8d57e..e49aa3c4 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-a12-172-g8a3356859c+1
\ No newline at end of file
+a12-173-g9886316e07+1
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/common/include/common/option.h b/common/include/common/option.h
index 3ee10e51..57af4623 100644
--- a/common/include/common/option.h
+++ b/common/include/common/option.h
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ struct Option
   const char         * description;
   struct OptionValue   value;
 
-  bool (*validator)(struct OptionValue * value);
+  bool (*validator)(struct OptionValue * value, const char ** error);
   void (*printHelp)();
 };
 
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ bool                 option_get_bool  (const char * module, const char * name);
 // called by the main application to parse the command line arguments
 bool option_parse(int argc, char * argv[]);
 
+// called by the main application to validate the option values
+bool option_validate();
+
 // print out the options, help, and their current values
 void option_print();
 
diff --git a/common/src/option.c b/common/src/option.c
index 7bdb14e3..0a16ca2e 100644
--- a/common/src/option.c
+++ b/common/src/option.c
@@ -199,23 +199,38 @@ bool option_parse(int argc, char * argv[])
     free(arg);
   }
 
+  return true;
+}
+
+bool option_validate()
+{
   // validate the option values
   bool ok = true;
   for(int i = 0; i < state.oCount; ++i)
   {
     struct Option * o = &state.options[i];
+    const char * error = NULL;
     if (o->validator)
-      if (!o->validator(&o->value))
+      if (!o->validator(&o->value, &error))
       {
-        DEBUG_ERROR("Invalid value provided to option %s:%s", o->module, o->name);
+        printf("\nInvalid value provided to the option: %s:%s\n", o->module, o->name);
+
+        if (error)
+          printf("\n Error: %s\n", error);
 
         if (o->printHelp)
+        {
+          printf("\n");
           o->printHelp();
+        }
 
         ok = false;
       }
   }
 
+  if (!ok)
+    printf("\n");
+
   return ok;
 }