diff --git a/src/config/config.js b/src/config/config.js
index 78bb1f96..131205d3 100644
--- a/src/config/config.js
+++ b/src/config/config.js
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ export default {
   aead_protect: false, // use Authenticated Encryption with Additional Data (AEAD) protection for symmetric encryption
   integrity_protect: true, // use integrity protection for symmetric encryption
   ignore_mdc_error: false, // fail on decrypt if message is not integrity protected
+  checksum_required: false, // do not throw error when armor is missing a checksum
   rsa_blinding: true,
   use_native: true, // use native node.js crypto and Web Crypto apis (if available)
   zero_copy: false, // use transferable objects between the Web Worker and main thread
diff --git a/src/encoding/armor.js b/src/encoding/armor.js
index 9dcbe891..bc7abea4 100644
--- a/src/encoding/armor.js
+++ b/src/encoding/armor.js
@@ -191,8 +191,7 @@ function createcrc24(input) {
 /**
  * Splits a message into two parts, the headers and the body. This is an internal function
  * @param {String} text OpenPGP armored message part
- * @returns {(Boolean|Object)} Either false in case of an error
- * or an object with attribute "headers" containing the headers and
+ * @returns {Object} An object with attribute "headers" containing the headers
  * and an attribute "body" containing the body.
  */
 function splitHeaders(text) {
@@ -234,19 +233,19 @@ function verifyHeaders(headers) {
 /**
  * Splits a message into two parts, the body and the checksum. This is an internal function
  * @param {String} text OpenPGP armored message part
- * @returns {(Boolean|Object)} Either false in case of an error
- * or an object with attribute "body" containing the body
+ * @returns {Object} An object with attribute "body" containing the body
  * and an attribute "checksum" containing the checksum.
  */
 function splitChecksum(text) {
+  text = text.trim();
   var body = text;
   var checksum = "";
 
   var lastEquals = text.lastIndexOf("=");
 
-  if (lastEquals >= 0) {
+  if (lastEquals >= 0 && lastEquals !== text.length - 1) { // '=' as the last char means no checksum
     body = text.slice(0, lastEquals);
-    checksum = text.slice(lastEquals + 1);
+    checksum = text.slice(lastEquals + 1).substr(0, 4);
   }
 
   return { body: body, checksum: checksum };
@@ -268,6 +267,7 @@ function dearmor(text) {
 
   var type = getType(text);
 
+  text = text.trim() + "\n";
   var splittext = text.split(reSplit);
 
   // IE has a bug in split with a re. If the pattern matches the beginning of the
@@ -309,12 +309,9 @@ function dearmor(text) {
     checksum = sig_sum.checksum;
   }
 
-  checksum = checksum.substr(0, 4);
-
-  if (!verifyCheckSum(result.data, checksum)) {
-    throw new Error("Ascii armor integrity check on message failed: '" +
-      checksum +
-      "' should be '" +
+  if (!verifyCheckSum(result.data, checksum) && (checksum || config.checksum_required)) {
+    // will NOT throw error if checksum is empty AND checksum is not required (GPG compatibility)
+    throw new Error("Ascii armor integrity check on message failed: '" + checksum + "' should be '" +
       getCheckSum(result.data) + "'");
   }
 
diff --git a/test/general/armor.js b/test/general/armor.js
index f5ceb2e3..073c35a5 100644
--- a/test/general/armor.js
+++ b/test/general/armor.js
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ describe("ASCII armor", function() {
     expect(msg).to.throw(Error, /Unknown ASCII armor type/);
   });
 
-  it('Armor checksum validation', function () {
+  it('Armor checksum validation - mismatch', function () {
     var privKey =
       ['-----BEGIN PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----',
       'Version: OpenPGP.js v0.3.0',
@@ -152,9 +152,140 @@ describe("ASCII armor", function() {
       '=wJN@',
       '-----END PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----'].join('\n');
 
-    var result = openpgp.key.readArmored(privKey);
-    expect(result.err).to.exist;
-    expect(result.err[0].message).to.match(/Ascii armor integrity check on message failed/);
+    // try with default config
+    var result_1 = openpgp.key.readArmored(privKey);
+    expect(result_1.err).to.exist;
+    expect(result_1.err[0].message).to.match(/Ascii armor integrity check on message failed/);
+
+    // try opposite config
+    openpgp.config.checksum_required = !openpgp.config.checksum_required;
+    var result_2 = openpgp.key.readArmored(privKey);
+    expect(result_2.err).to.exist;
+    expect(result_2.err[0].message).to.match(/Ascii armor integrity check on message failed/);
+
+    // back to default
+    openpgp.config.checksum_required = !openpgp.config.checksum_required;
+  });
+
+  it('Armor checksum validation - valid', function () {
+    var privKey =
+      ['-----BEGIN PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----',
+        'Version: OpenPGP.js v0.3.0',
+        'Comment: http://openpgpjs.org',
+        '',
+        'xbYEUubX7gEBANDWhzoP+Tr/IyRSv++vl5jBesQIPTYGQBdzF4YDnGEBABEB',
+        'AAH+CQMIfzdw4/PKNl5gVXdtfDFdSIN8yJT2rbeg3+SsWexXZNNdRaONWaiB',
+        'Z5cG9Q6+BoXKsEshIdcYOgwsAgRxlPpRA34Vvmg2QBk7PhdrkbK7aqENsJ1w',
+        'dIlLD6p9GmLE20yVff58/fMiUtPRgsD83SpKTAX6EM1ulpkuQQNjmrVc5qc8',
+        '7AMdF80JdW5kZWZpbmVkwj8EEAEIABMFAlLm1+4JEBD8MASZrpALAhsDAAAs',
+        'QgD8CUrwv7Hrp/INR0/UvAvzS52VztREQwQWTJMrgTNHBGjHtgRS5tfuAQEA',
+        'nys9SaSgR+l6iZc/M8hGIUmbuahE2/+mtw+/l0RO+WcAEQEAAf4JAwjr39Yi',
+        'FzjxImDN1IoYVsonA9M+BtIIJHafuQUHjyEr1paJJK5xS6KlyGgpMTXTD6y/',
+        'qxS3ZSPPzHGRrs2CmkVEiPmurn9Ed05tb0y9OnJkWtuh3z9VVq9d8zHzuENa',
+        'bUfli+P/v+dRaZ+1rSOxUFbFYbFB5XK/A9b/OPFrv+mb4KrtLxugwj8EGAEI',
+        'ABMFAlLm1+4JEBD8MASZrpALAhsMAAC3IgD8DnLGbMnpLtrX72RCkPW1ffLq',
+        '71vlXMJNXvoCeuejiRw=',
+        '=wJNM',
+        '-----END PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----'].join('\n');
+
+    // try with default config
+    var result_1 = openpgp.key.readArmored(privKey);
+    expect(result_1.err).to.not.exist;
+
+    // try opposite config
+    openpgp.config.checksum_required = !openpgp.config.checksum_required;
+    var result_2 = openpgp.key.readArmored(privKey);
+    expect(result_2.err).to.not.exist;
+
+    // back to default
+    openpgp.config.checksum_required = !openpgp.config.checksum_required;
+  });
+
+  it('Armor checksum validation - missing', function () {
+    var privKeyNoCheckSum =
+      ['-----BEGIN PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----',
+        'Version: OpenPGP.js v0.3.0',
+        'Comment: http://openpgpjs.org',
+        '',
+        'xbYEUubX7gEBANDWhzoP+Tr/IyRSv++vl5jBesQIPTYGQBdzF4YDnGEBABEB',
+        'AAH+CQMIfzdw4/PKNl5gVXdtfDFdSIN8yJT2rbeg3+SsWexXZNNdRaONWaiB',
+        'Z5cG9Q6+BoXKsEshIdcYOgwsAgRxlPpRA34Vvmg2QBk7PhdrkbK7aqENsJ1w',
+        'dIlLD6p9GmLE20yVff58/fMiUtPRgsD83SpKTAX6EM1ulpkuQQNjmrVc5qc8',
+        '7AMdF80JdW5kZWZpbmVkwj8EEAEIABMFAlLm1+4JEBD8MASZrpALAhsDAAAs',
+        'QgD8CUrwv7Hrp/INR0/UvAvzS52VztREQwQWTJMrgTNHBGjHtgRS5tfuAQEA',
+        'nys9SaSgR+l6iZc/M8hGIUmbuahE2/+mtw+/l0RO+WcAEQEAAf4JAwjr39Yi',
+        'FzjxImDN1IoYVsonA9M+BtIIJHafuQUHjyEr1paJJK5xS6KlyGgpMTXTD6y/',
+        'qxS3ZSPPzHGRrs2CmkVEiPmurn9Ed05tb0y9OnJkWtuh3z9VVq9d8zHzuENa',
+        'bUfli+P/v+dRaZ+1rSOxUFbFYbFB5XK/A9b/OPFrv+mb4KrtLxugwj8EGAEI',
+        'ABMFAlLm1+4JEBD8MASZrpALAhsMAAC3IgD8DnLGbMnpLtrX72RCkPW1ffLq',
+        '71vlXMJNXvoCeuejiRw=',
+        '-----END PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----'].join('\n');
+
+    // try with default config
+    var result_1 = openpgp.key.readArmored(privKeyNoCheckSum);
+    if(openpgp.config.checksum_required) {
+      expect(result_1.err).to.exist;
+      expect(result_1.err[0].message).to.match(/Ascii armor integrity check on message failed/);
+    } else {
+      expect(result_1.err).to.not.exist;
+    }
+
+    // try opposite config
+    openpgp.config.checksum_required = !openpgp.config.checksum_required;
+    var result_2 = openpgp.key.readArmored(privKeyNoCheckSum);
+    if(openpgp.config.checksum_required) {
+      expect(result_2.err).to.exist;
+      expect(result_2.err[0].message).to.match(/Ascii armor integrity check on message failed/);
+    } else {
+      expect(result_2.err).to.not.exist;
+    }
+
+    // back to default
+    openpgp.config.checksum_required = !openpgp.config.checksum_required;
+  });
+
+  it('Armor checksum validation - missing - trailing newline', function () {
+    var privKeyNoCheckSumWithTrailingNewline =
+      ['-----BEGIN PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----',
+        'Version: OpenPGP.js v0.3.0',
+        'Comment: http://openpgpjs.org',
+        '',
+        'xbYEUubX7gEBANDWhzoP+Tr/IyRSv++vl5jBesQIPTYGQBdzF4YDnGEBABEB',
+        'AAH+CQMIfzdw4/PKNl5gVXdtfDFdSIN8yJT2rbeg3+SsWexXZNNdRaONWaiB',
+        'Z5cG9Q6+BoXKsEshIdcYOgwsAgRxlPpRA34Vvmg2QBk7PhdrkbK7aqENsJ1w',
+        'dIlLD6p9GmLE20yVff58/fMiUtPRgsD83SpKTAX6EM1ulpkuQQNjmrVc5qc8',
+        '7AMdF80JdW5kZWZpbmVkwj8EEAEIABMFAlLm1+4JEBD8MASZrpALAhsDAAAs',
+        'QgD8CUrwv7Hrp/INR0/UvAvzS52VztREQwQWTJMrgTNHBGjHtgRS5tfuAQEA',
+        'nys9SaSgR+l6iZc/M8hGIUmbuahE2/+mtw+/l0RO+WcAEQEAAf4JAwjr39Yi',
+        'FzjxImDN1IoYVsonA9M+BtIIJHafuQUHjyEr1paJJK5xS6KlyGgpMTXTD6y/',
+        'qxS3ZSPPzHGRrs2CmkVEiPmurn9Ed05tb0y9OnJkWtuh3z9VVq9d8zHzuENa',
+        'bUfli+P/v+dRaZ+1rSOxUFbFYbFB5XK/A9b/OPFrv+mb4KrtLxugwj8EGAEI',
+        'ABMFAlLm1+4JEBD8MASZrpALAhsMAAC3IgD8DnLGbMnpLtrX72RCkPW1ffLq',
+        '71vlXMJNXvoCeuejiRw=',
+        '-----END PGP PRIVATE KEY BLOCK-----',
+        ''].join('\n');
+
+    // try with default config
+    var result_1 = openpgp.key.readArmored(privKeyNoCheckSumWithTrailingNewline);
+    if(openpgp.config.checksum_required) {
+      expect(result_1.err).to.exist;
+      expect(result_1.err[0].message).to.match(/Ascii armor integrity check on message failed/);
+    } else {
+      expect(result_1.err).to.not.exist;
+    }
+
+    // try opposite config
+    openpgp.config.checksum_required = !openpgp.config.checksum_required;
+    var result_2 = openpgp.key.readArmored(privKeyNoCheckSumWithTrailingNewline);
+    if(openpgp.config.checksum_required) {
+      expect(result_2.err).to.exist;
+      expect(result_2.err[0].message).to.match(/Ascii armor integrity check on message failed/);
+    } else {
+      expect(result_2.err).to.not.exist;
+    }
+
+    // back to default
+    openpgp.config.checksum_required = !openpgp.config.checksum_required;
   });
 
   it('Accept header with trailing whitespace', function () {