diff --git a/jquery.select-to-autocomplete.js b/jquery.select-to-autocomplete.js
index 2c89b62..fc44463 100644
--- a/jquery.select-to-autocomplete.js
+++ b/jquery.select-to-autocomplete.js
@@ -38,16 +38,16 @@ THE SOFTWARE.
     'relevancy-sorting-strict-match-value': 5,
     'relevancy-sorting-booster-attr': 'data-relevancy-booster',
     handle_invalid_input: function( context ) {
-      context.$text_field.val( '' );
+      context.$text_field.val( context.$select_field.find('option:selected:first').text() );
     },
     handle_select_field: function( $select_field ) {
       return $select_field.hide();
     },
-    insert_text_field: function( $select_field ) {
+    insert_text_field: function( context ) {
       var $text_field = $( "<input></input>" );
       if ( settings['copy-attributes-to-text-field'] ) {
         var attrs = {};
-        var raw_attrs = $select_field[0].attributes;
+        var raw_attrs = context.$select_field[0].attributes;
         for (var i=0; i < raw_attrs.length; i++) {
           var key = raw_attrs[i].nodeName;
           var value = raw_attrs[i].nodeValue;
@@ -57,8 +57,14 @@ THE SOFTWARE.
         };
         $text_field.attr( attrs );
       }
-      return $text_field.val( $select_field.find('option:selected:first').text() )
-        .insertAfter( $select_field );
+      $text_field.blur(function() {
+        var valid_values = context.$select_field.find('option').map(function(i, option) { return $(option).text(); });
+        if ( !($text_field.val() in valid_values) && typeof settings['handle_invalid_input'] === 'function' ) {
+          settings['handle_invalid_input'](context);
+        }
+      });
+      return $text_field.val( context.$select_field.find('option:selected:first').text() )
+        .insertAfter( context.$select_field );
     },
     extract_options: function( $select_field ) {
       var options = [];
@@ -130,17 +136,17 @@ THE SOFTWARE.
 
         return this.each(function(){
           var $select_field = $(this);
-
-          var options = settings['extract_options']( $select_field );
-          var $text_field = settings['insert_text_field']( $select_field );
-          settings['handle_select_field']( $select_field );
-
+          
           var context = {
             '$select_field': $select_field,
-            '$text_field': $text_field,
-            'options': options,
+            'options': settings['extract_options']( $select_field ),
             'settings': settings
           };
+
+          context['$text_field'] = settings['insert_text_field']( context );
+          
+          settings['handle_select_field']( $select_field );
+          
           if ( typeof settings['autocomplete-plugin'] === 'string' ) {
             adapters[settings['autocomplete-plugin']]( context );
           } else {