diff --git a/octodns/manager.py b/octodns/manager.py
index f19885f..07be01b 100644
--- a/octodns/manager.py
+++ b/octodns/manager.py
@@ -221,13 +221,14 @@ class Manager(object):
         self.log.debug('configured_sub_zones: subs=%s', sub_zone_names)
         return set(sub_zone_names)
 
-    def _populate_and_plan(self, zone_name, sources, targets):
+    def _populate_and_plan(self, zone_name, sources, targets, lenient=False):
 
-        self.log.debug('sync:   populating, zone=%s', zone_name)
+        self.log.debug('sync:   populating, zone=%s, lenient=%s',
+                       zone_name, lenient)
         zone = Zone(zone_name,
                     sub_zones=self.configured_sub_zones(zone_name))
         for source in sources:
-            source.populate(zone)
+            source.populate(zone, lenient=lenient)
 
         self.log.debug('sync:   planning, zone=%s', zone_name)
         plans = []
@@ -259,6 +260,7 @@ class Manager(object):
         futures = []
         for zone_name, config in zones:
             self.log.info('sync:   zone=%s', zone_name)
+            lenient = config.get('lenient', False)
             try:
                 sources = config['sources']
             except KeyError:
@@ -308,7 +310,8 @@ class Manager(object):
                                        .format(zone_name, target))
 
             futures.append(self._executor.submit(self._populate_and_plan,
-                                                 zone_name, sources, targets))
+                                                 zone_name, sources,
+                                                 targets, lenient=lenient))
 
         # Wait on all results and unpack/flatten them in to a list of target &
         # plan pairs.
diff --git a/octodns/record/__init__.py b/octodns/record/__init__.py
index 39bae2a..04eb2da 100644
--- a/octodns/record/__init__.py
+++ b/octodns/record/__init__.py
@@ -1215,7 +1215,7 @@ class SrvRecord(_ValuesMixin, Record):
     def validate(cls, name, fqdn, data):
         reasons = []
         if not cls._name_re.match(name):
-            reasons.append('invalid name')
+            reasons.append('invalid name for SRV record')
         reasons.extend(super(SrvRecord, cls).validate(name, fqdn, data))
         return reasons
 
diff --git a/tests/test_octodns_record.py b/tests/test_octodns_record.py
index b6dc4e9..e2917b3 100644
--- a/tests/test_octodns_record.py
+++ b/tests/test_octodns_record.py
@@ -2167,7 +2167,8 @@ class TestRecordValidation(TestCase):
                     'target': 'foo.bar.baz.'
                 }
             })
-        self.assertEquals(['invalid name'], ctx.exception.reasons)
+        self.assertEquals(['invalid name for SRV record'],
+                          ctx.exception.reasons)
 
         # missing priority
         with self.assertRaises(ValidationError) as ctx:
diff --git a/tests/test_octodns_source_axfr.py b/tests/test_octodns_source_axfr.py
index 62e1a65..bd25062 100644
--- a/tests/test_octodns_source_axfr.py
+++ b/tests/test_octodns_source_axfr.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from unittest import TestCase
 from octodns.source.axfr import AxfrSource, AxfrSourceZoneTransferFailed, \
     ZoneFileSource, ZoneFileSourceLoadFailure
 from octodns.zone import Zone
+from octodns.record import ValidationError
 
 
 class TestAxfrSource(TestCase):
@@ -70,3 +71,16 @@ class TestZoneFileSource(TestCase):
             self.source.populate(zone)
         self.assertEquals('The DNS zone has no NS RRset at its origin.',
                           text_type(ctx.exception))
+
+        # Records are not to RFC (lenient=False)
+        with self.assertRaises(ValidationError) as ctx:
+            zone = Zone('invalid.records.', [])
+            self.source.populate(zone)
+        self.assertEquals('Invalid record _invalid.invalid.records.\n'
+                          '  - invalid name for SRV record',
+                          text_type(ctx.exception))
+
+        # Records are not to RFC, but load anyhow (lenient=True)
+        invalid = Zone('invalid.records.', [])
+        self.source.populate(invalid, lenient=True)
+        self.assertEquals(12, len(invalid.records))
diff --git a/tests/zones/invalid.records. b/tests/zones/invalid.records.
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e7865a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/zones/invalid.records.
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+$ORIGIN invalid.records.
+@           3600 IN	SOA	ns1.invalid.records. root.invalid.records. (
+                        2018071501		; Serial
+                        3600    ; Refresh (1 hour)
+                        600     ; Retry (10 minutes)
+                        604800  ; Expire (1 week)
+                        3600    ; NXDOMAIN ttl (1 hour)
+                    )
+
+; NS Records
+@           3600  IN  NS  ns1.invalid.records.
+@           3600  IN  NS  ns2.invalid.records.
+under       3600  IN  NS  ns1.invalid.records.
+under       3600  IN  NS  ns2.invalid.records.
+
+; SRV Records
+_srv._tcp   600   IN  SRV 10 20 30 foo-1.invalid.records.
+_srv._tcp   600   IN  SRV 10 20 30 foo-2.invalid.records.
+_invalid    600   IN  SRV 10 20 30 foo-3.invalid.records.
+
+; TXT Records
+txt         600   IN  TXT "Bah bah black sheep"
+txt         600   IN  TXT "have you any wool."
+txt         600   IN  TXT "v=DKIM1;k=rsa;s=email;h=sha256;p=A/kinda+of/long/string+with+numb3rs"
+
+; MX Records
+mx          300   IN  MX  10  smtp-4.invalid.records.
+mx          300   IN  MX  20  smtp-2.invalid.records.
+mx          300   IN  MX  30  smtp-3.invalid.records.
+mx          300   IN  MX  40  smtp-1.invalid.records.
+
+; A Records
+@           300   IN  A   1.2.3.4
+@           300   IN  A   1.2.3.5
+www         300   IN  A   2.2.3.6
+wwww.sub    300   IN  A   2.2.3.6
+
+; AAAA Records
+aaaa        600   IN  AAAA  2601:644:500:e210:62f8:1dff:feb8:947a
+
+; CNAME Records
+cname       300   IN  CNAME   invalid.records.
+included    300   IN  CNAME   invalid.records.