diff --git a/src/main/java/com/pivovarit/collectors/Dispatcher.java b/src/main/java/com/pivovarit/collectors/Dispatcher.java
index 843f56d8..348b62e2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/pivovarit/collectors/Dispatcher.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/pivovarit/collectors/Dispatcher.java
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 import java.util.concurrent.FutureTask;
 import java.util.concurrent.LinkedBlockingQueue;
 import java.util.concurrent.Semaphore;
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
 import java.util.function.Function;
 import java.util.function.Supplier;
@@ -36,12 +37,8 @@ private Dispatcher() {
         this.limiter = null;
     }
 
-    private Dispatcher(int permits) {
-        this.executor = defaultExecutorService();
-        this.limiter = new Semaphore(permits);
-    }
-
     private Dispatcher(Executor executor, int permits) {
+        requireValidExecutor(executor);
         this.executor = executor;
         this.limiter = new Semaphore(permits);
     }
@@ -157,4 +154,18 @@ public boolean cancel(boolean mayInterruptIfRunning) {
     private static ExecutorService defaultExecutorService() {
         return Executors.newVirtualThreadPerTaskExecutor();
     }
+
+    private static void requireValidExecutor(Executor executor) {
+        if (executor instanceof ThreadPoolExecutor tpe) {
+            switch (tpe.getRejectedExecutionHandler()) {
+                case ThreadPoolExecutor.DiscardPolicy __ ->
+                  throw new IllegalArgumentException("Executor's RejectedExecutionHandler can't discard tasks");
+                case ThreadPoolExecutor.DiscardOldestPolicy __ ->
+                  throw new IllegalArgumentException("Executor's RejectedExecutionHandler can't discard tasks");
+                default -> {
+                    // no-op
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/pivovarit/collectors/ExecutorValidationTest.java b/src/test/java/com/pivovarit/collectors/ExecutorValidationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..88259bd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/pivovarit/collectors/ExecutorValidationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+package com.pivovarit.collectors;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.DynamicTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.TestFactory;
+
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.SynchronousQueue;
+import java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import java.util.function.Function;
+import java.util.stream.Collector;
+import java.util.stream.Stream;
+
+import static java.util.stream.Stream.of;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
+
+class ExecutorValidationTest {
+
+    @TestFactory
+    Stream<DynamicTest> shouldStartProcessingElementsTests() {
+        return of(
+          shouldRejectInvalidRejectedExecutionHandler(e -> ParallelCollectors.parallel(i -> i, e, 2), "parallel"),
+          shouldRejectInvalidRejectedExecutionHandler(e -> ParallelCollectors.parallelToStream(i -> i, e, 2), "parallelToStream"),
+          shouldRejectInvalidRejectedExecutionHandler(e -> ParallelCollectors.parallelToOrderedStream(i -> i, e, 2), "parallelToOrderedStream"),
+          shouldRejectInvalidRejectedExecutionHandler(e -> ParallelCollectors.Batching.parallel(i -> i, e, 2), "parallel (batching)"),
+          shouldRejectInvalidRejectedExecutionHandler(e -> ParallelCollectors.Batching.parallelToStream(i -> i, e, 2), "parallelToStream (batching)"),
+          shouldRejectInvalidRejectedExecutionHandler(e -> ParallelCollectors.Batching.parallelToOrderedStream(i -> i, e, 2), "parallelToOrderedStream (batching)")
+        ).flatMap(i -> i);
+    }
+
+    private static Stream<DynamicTest> shouldRejectInvalidRejectedExecutionHandler(Function<ExecutorService, Collector<Integer, ?, ?>> collector, String name) {
+        return Stream.of(new ThreadPoolExecutor.DiscardOldestPolicy(), new ThreadPoolExecutor.DiscardPolicy())
+          .map(dp -> DynamicTest.dynamicTest(name + " : " + dp.getClass().getSimpleName(), () -> {
+              try (var e = new ThreadPoolExecutor(2, 2000, 0, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS, new SynchronousQueue<>(), dp)) {
+                  assertThatThrownBy(() -> Stream.of(1, 2, 3)
+                    .collect(collector.apply(e))).isExactlyInstanceOf(IllegalArgumentException.class);
+              }
+          }));
+    }
+}