diff --git a/lib/oidcc/token.ex b/lib/oidcc/token.ex
index 3a955ce..de3c969 100644
--- a/lib/oidcc/token.ex
+++ b/lib/oidcc/token.ex
@@ -310,6 +310,10 @@ defmodule Oidcc.Token do
   Useful if the issuer is shared between multiple applications, and the access token
   generated for a user at one client is used to validate their access at another client.
 
+  Validating an arbitrary JWT token (not an ID token) is not covered by the OpenID
+  Connect specification. Therefore the signing / encryption algorithms are not
+  derieved from the provider configuration, but must be provided by the caller.
+
   ## Examples
 
       iex> {:ok, pid} =
@@ -324,7 +328,7 @@ defmodule Oidcc.Token do
       ...>     "client_secret"
       ...>   )
       ...>
-      ...> #Get JWT from Authorization header
+      ...> # Get JWT from Authorization header
       ...> jwt = "jwt"
       ...>
       ...> opts = %{
diff --git a/src/oidcc_token.erl b/src/oidcc_token.erl
index 5e3a513..5bdaf79 100644
--- a/src/oidcc_token.erl
+++ b/src/oidcc_token.erl
@@ -958,6 +958,10 @@ Validates a generic JWT (such as an access token) from the given provider.
 Useful if the issuer is shared between multiple applications, and the access token
 generated for a user at one client is used to validate their access at another client.
 
+Validating an arbitrary JWT token (not an ID token) is not covered by the OpenID
+Connect specification. Therefore the signing / encryption algorithms are not
+derieved from the provider configuration, but must be provided by the caller.
+
 ## Examples
 
 ```erlang
@@ -966,6 +970,12 @@ generated for a user at one client is used to validate their access at another c
                                                 <<"client_id">>,
                                                 <<"client_secret">>),
 %% Get Jwt from Authorization header
+Jwt = <<"jwt">>,
+
+Opts = #{
+  signing_algs => [<<"RS256">>]
+},
+
 {ok, Claims} =
     oidcc:validate_jwt(Jwt, ClientContext, Opts).
 ```
@@ -995,6 +1005,14 @@ validate_jwt(Jwt, ClientContext, Opts) when is_map(Opts) ->
     SigningAlgs = maps:get(signing_algs, Opts, []),
     EncryptionAlgs = maps:get(encryption_algs, Opts, []),
     EncryptionEncs = maps:get(encryption_encs, Opts, []),
+
+    case {SigningAlgs, EncryptionAlgs} of
+        {[], []} ->
+            error(badarg, [Jwt, ClientContext, Opts], []);
+        _ ->
+            ok
+    end,
+
     ExpClaims = [{<<"iss">>, Issuer}],
     Jwks1 =
         case ClientJwks of
diff --git a/test/oidcc/token_test.exs b/test/oidcc/token_test.exs
index e216610..ec30170 100644
--- a/test/oidcc/token_test.exs
+++ b/test/oidcc/token_test.exs
@@ -227,4 +227,28 @@ defmodule Oidcc.TokenTest do
                )
     end
   end
+
+  describe inspect(&Oidcc.validate_jwt/3) do
+    test "throws badarg when leaving out signing & encryption parameters" do
+      pid =
+        start_supervised!(
+          {ProviderConfiguration.Worker, %{issuer: "https://erlef-test-w4a8z2.zitadel.cloud"}}
+        )
+
+      {:ok, client_context} =
+        ClientContext.from_configuration_worker(
+          pid,
+          @client_credentials_client_id,
+          @client_credentials_client_secret
+        )
+
+      assert_raise ArgumentError, fn ->
+        Oidcc.Token.validate_jwt(
+          "invalidtoken",
+          client_context,
+          %{}
+        )
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/test/oidcc_token_test.erl b/test/oidcc_token_test.erl
index eb2d655..cac486e 100644
--- a/test/oidcc_token_test.erl
+++ b/test/oidcc_token_test.erl
@@ -2199,8 +2199,8 @@ validate_jwt_test() ->
         oidcc_token:validate_jwt(JwtFun(WrongAudience), ClientContext, Opts)
     ),
 
-    ?assertEqual(
-        {error, no_matching_key},
+    ?assertError(
+        badarg,
         oidcc_token:validate_jwt(JwtFun(WrongAudience), ClientContext, #{})
     ),