diff --git a/functions.go b/functions.go
index e9770e8..4dad64a 100644
--- a/functions.go
+++ b/functions.go
@@ -342,6 +342,17 @@ func (e *functionEntry) resolveArgs(arguments []interface{}) ([]interface{}, err
 	if len(arguments) < len(e.arguments) {
 		return nil, errors.New("invalid arity")
 	}
+	for i, userArg := range arguments {
+		var spec argSpec
+		if i < len(e.arguments)-1 {
+			spec = e.arguments[i]
+		} else {
+			spec = e.arguments[len(e.arguments)-1]
+		}
+		if err := spec.typeCheck(userArg); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
 	return arguments, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/interpreter_test.go b/interpreter_test.go
index 76e0c5d..e0e3bf2 100644
--- a/interpreter_test.go
+++ b/interpreter_test.go
@@ -181,6 +181,40 @@ func TestCanSupportSliceOfStructsWithFunctions(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(result.(float64), 2.0)
 }
 
+func TestVariadicFunctionTypeChecking(t *testing.T) {
+	assert := assert.New(t)
+
+	// Issue #72: merge should return error instead of panicking when an argument is not an object.
+	data := map[string]interface{}{"message": "foo"}
+	result, err := Search("merge({message: message}, contextMap)", data)
+	assert.Nil(result)
+	assert.NotNil(err)
+
+	invalidExpressions := []string{
+		"merge(`\"foo\"`)",
+		"merge(`123`)",
+		"merge(`[1, 2]`)",
+		"merge(`true`)",
+		"merge(`{\"a\": 1}`, `\"b\"`)",
+		"merge(`{\"a\": 1}`, `null`)",
+	}
+	for _, expr := range invalidExpressions {
+		res, err := Search(expr, nil)
+		assert.Nil(res)
+		assert.NotNil(err)
+	}
+
+	// merge with valid objects should still succeed
+	res, err := Search("merge(`{\"a\": 1}`, `{\"b\": 2}`)", nil)
+	assert.Nil(err)
+	assert.Equal(map[string]interface{}{"a": float64(1), "b": float64(2)}, res)
+
+	// not_null with variadic arguments should still succeed
+	res, err = Search("not_null(foo, bar, `\"default\"`)", map[string]interface{}{})
+	assert.Nil(err)
+	assert.Equal("default", res)
+}
+
 func BenchmarkInterpretSingleFieldStruct(b *testing.B) {
 	assert := assert.New(b)
 	intr := newInterpreter()