diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3c7e965d..662dab91 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.2)
 
 project(falco)
 
+option(BUILD_WARNINGS_AS_ERRORS "Enable building with -Wextra -Werror flags")
+
 if(NOT DEFINED FALCO_VERSION)
 	set(FALCO_VERSION "0.1.1dev")
 endif()
@@ -35,8 +37,15 @@ if(NOT DRAIOS_DEBUG_FLAGS)
 	set(DRAIOS_DEBUG_FLAGS "-D_DEBUG")
 endif()
 
-set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "-Wall -ggdb ${DRAIOS_FEATURE_FLAGS}")
-set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-Wall -ggdb --std=c++0x ${DRAIOS_FEATURE_FLAGS}")
+set(CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS "-Wall -ggdb ${DRAIOS_FEATURE_FLAGS}")
+
+if(BUILD_WARNINGS_AS_ERRORS)
+	set(CMAKE_SUPPRESSED_WARNINGS "-Wno-unused-parameter -Wno-missing-field-initializers -Wno-sign-compare -Wno-type-limits -Wno-implicit-fallthrough -Wno-format-truncation")
+	set(CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS "${CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS} -Wextra -Werror ${CMAKE_SUPPRESSED_WARNINGS}")
+endif()
+
+set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS}")
+set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "--std=c++0x ${CMAKE_COMMON_FLAGS}")
 
 set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG "${DRAIOS_DEBUG_FLAGS}")
 set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${DRAIOS_DEBUG_FLAGS}")
diff --git a/userspace/falco/falco_outputs.cpp b/userspace/falco/falco_outputs.cpp
index 3ef21d62..97341e0b 100644
--- a/userspace/falco/falco_outputs.cpp
+++ b/userspace/falco/falco_outputs.cpp
@@ -37,19 +37,26 @@ falco_outputs::falco_outputs(falco_engine *engine)
 
 falco_outputs::~falco_outputs()
 {
+	// Note: The assert()s in this destructor were previously places where
+	//       exceptions were thrown.  C++11 doesn't allow destructors to
+	//       emit exceptions; if they're thrown, they'll trigger a call
+	//       to 'terminate()'.  To maintain similar behavior, the exceptions
+	//       were replace with calls to 'assert()'
 	if(m_initialized)
 	{
 		lua_getglobal(m_ls, m_lua_output_cleanup.c_str());
 
 		if(!lua_isfunction(m_ls, -1))
 		{
-			throw falco_exception("No function " + m_lua_output_cleanup + " found. ");
+			falco_logger::log(LOG_ERR, std::string("No function ") + m_lua_output_cleanup + " found. ");
+			assert(nullptr == "Missing lua cleanup function in ~falco_outputs");
 		}
 
 		if(lua_pcall(m_ls, 0, 0, 0) != 0)
 		{
 			const char* lerr = lua_tostring(m_ls, -1);
-			throw falco_exception(string(lerr));
+			falco_logger::log(LOG_ERR, std::string("lua_pcall failed, err: ") + lerr);
+			assert(nullptr == "lua_pcall failed in ~falco_outputs");
 		}
 	}
 }