diff --git a/BetterStack.Logs.NLog/BetterStackLogsTarget.cs b/BetterStack.Logs.NLog/BetterStackLogsTarget.cs
index 5bab807..d979907 100644
--- a/BetterStack.Logs.NLog/BetterStackLogsTarget.cs
+++ b/BetterStack.Logs.NLog/BetterStackLogsTarget.cs
@@ -113,6 +113,16 @@ protected override void InitializeTarget()
             if (!Uri.TryCreate(endpointUrl, UriKind.Absolute, out _)) {
                 throw new NLogConfigurationException($"BetterStack.Logs: endpoint is \"{endpoint}\". Set it to the ingesting host of your Better Stack source.");
             }
+            // 0 would leave the drain spinning on a core: without taking any logs, or without waiting between flushes
+            if (MaxBatchSize < 1) {
+                throw new NLogConfigurationException($"BetterStack.Logs: maxBatchSize is {MaxBatchSize}. Set it to 1 or more.");
+            }
+            if (FlushPeriodMilliseconds < 1) {
+                throw new NLogConfigurationException($"BetterStack.Logs: flushPeriodMilliseconds is {FlushPeriodMilliseconds}. Set it to 1 or more.");
+            }
+            if (Retries < 0) {
+                throw new NLogConfigurationException($"BetterStack.Logs: retries is {Retries}. Set it to 0 or more.");
+            }
 
             var client = new Client(
                 sourceToken,
diff --git a/tests/BetterStack.Logs.NLog.Tests/BetterStackLogsTargetTests.cs b/tests/BetterStack.Logs.NLog.Tests/BetterStackLogsTargetTests.cs
index 2724996..cbea138 100644
--- a/tests/BetterStack.Logs.NLog.Tests/BetterStackLogsTargetTests.cs
+++ b/tests/BetterStack.Logs.NLog.Tests/BetterStackLogsTargetTests.cs
@@ -480,5 +480,48 @@ public void ConfiguresFromXml()
             Assert.Equal("Tracing the code!", (string)log["message"]);
             Assert.Equal("Trace", (string)log["level"]);
         }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void ReportsMaxBatchSizeBelowOneAsConfigurationError()
+        {
+            logFactory.ThrowConfigExceptions = true;
+            var target = Target();
+            target.MaxBatchSize = 0;
+
+            var exception = Assert.Throws<NLogConfigurationException>(() => LoggerFor(target));
+            Assert.Equal("BetterStack.Logs: maxBatchSize is 0. Set it to 1 or more.", exception.Message);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void ReportsFlushPeriodBelowOneMillisecondAsConfigurationError()
+        {
+            logFactory.ThrowConfigExceptions = true;
+            var target = Target();
+            target.FlushPeriodMilliseconds = 0;
+
+            var exception = Assert.Throws<NLogConfigurationException>(() => LoggerFor(target));
+            Assert.Equal("BetterStack.Logs: flushPeriodMilliseconds is 0. Set it to 1 or more.", exception.Message);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void ReportsNegativeRetriesAsConfigurationError()
+        {
+            logFactory.ThrowConfigExceptions = true;
+            var target = Target();
+            target.Retries = -1;
+
+            var exception = Assert.Throws<NLogConfigurationException>(() => LoggerFor(target));
+            Assert.Equal("BetterStack.Logs: retries is -1. Set it to 0 or more.", exception.Message);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void AcceptsZeroRetries()
+        {
+            logFactory.ThrowConfigExceptions = true;
+            var target = Target();
+            target.Retries = 0;
+
+            Assert.Null(Record.Exception(() => LoggerFor(target)));
+        }
     }
 }