diff --git a/library/Zend/Validator/Identical.php b/library/Zend/Validator/Identical.php
index f2cec5ee9ad..9615dde22ef 100644
--- a/library/Zend/Validator/Identical.php
+++ b/library/Zend/Validator/Identical.php
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@ class Identical extends AbstractValidator
      */
     protected $tokenString;
     protected $token;
-    protected $strict = true;
+    protected $strict  = true;
+    protected $literal = false;
 
     /**
      * Sets validator options
@@ -61,6 +62,10 @@ public function __construct($token = null)
                 $this->setStrict($token['strict']);
             }
 
+            if (array_key_exists('literal', $token)) {
+                $this->setLiteral($token['literal']);
+            }
+
             $this->setToken($token['token']);
         } elseif (null !== $token) {
             $this->setToken($token);
@@ -72,7 +77,7 @@ public function __construct($token = null)
     /**
      * Retrieve token
      *
-     * @return string
+     * @return mixed
      */
     public function getToken()
     {
@@ -105,7 +110,7 @@ public function getStrict()
     /**
      * Sets the strict parameter
      *
-     * @param Zend\Validator\Identical
+     * @param  bool $strict
      * @return Identical
      */
     public function setStrict($strict)
@@ -114,6 +119,28 @@ public function setStrict($strict)
         return $this;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns the literal parameter
+     *
+     * @return bool
+     */
+    public function getLiteral()
+    {
+        return $this->literal;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Sets the literal parameter
+     *
+     * @param  bool $literal
+     * @return Identical
+     */
+    public function setLiteral($literal)
+    {
+        $this->literal = (bool) $literal;
+        return $this;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns true if and only if a token has been set and the provided value
      * matches that token.
@@ -123,21 +150,13 @@ public function setStrict($strict)
      * @return bool
      * @throws Exception\RuntimeException if the token doesn't exist in the context array
      */
-    public function isValid($value, $context = null)
+    public function isValid($value, array $context = null)
     {
         $this->setValue($value);
 
         $token = $this->getToken();
 
-        if ($context !== null) {
-            if (!is_array($context)) {
-                throw new Exception\InvalidArgumentException(sprintf(
-                    'Context passed to %s must be an array or null; received "%s"',
-                    __METHOD__,
-                    (is_object($context) ? get_class($context) : gettype($context))
-                ));
-            }
-
+        if (!$this->getLiteral() && $context !== null) {
             if (is_array($token)) {
                 while (is_array($token)){
                     $key = key($token);
diff --git a/tests/ZendTest/Validator/IdenticalTest.php b/tests/ZendTest/Validator/IdenticalTest.php
index 49ff2b323fc..5aaba8b2d2c 100644
--- a/tests/ZendTest/Validator/IdenticalTest.php
+++ b/tests/ZendTest/Validator/IdenticalTest.php
@@ -213,4 +213,34 @@ public function testSetArrayTokenNonExistentInContext()
             )
         );
     }
+
+    public function testCanSetLiteralParameterThroughConstructor()
+    {
+        $validator = new Identical(array('token' => 'foo', 'literal' => true));
+        // Default is false
+        $validator->setLiteral(true);
+        $this->assertTrue($validator->getLiteral());
+    }
+
+    public function testLiteralParameterDoesNotAffectValidationWhenNoContextIsProvided()
+    {
+        $this->validator->setToken(array('foo' => 'bar'));
+
+        $this->validator->setLiteral(false);
+        $this->assertTrue($this->validator->isValid(array('foo' => 'bar')));
+
+        $this->validator->setLiteral(true);
+        $this->assertTrue($this->validator->isValid(array('foo' => 'bar')));
+    }
+
+    public function testLiteralParameterWorksWhenContextIsProvided()
+    {
+        $this->validator->setToken(array('foo' => 'bar'));
+        $this->validator->setLiteral(true);
+
+        $this->assertTrue($this->validator->isValid(
+            array('foo' => 'bar'),
+            array('foo' => 'baz') // Provide a context to make sure the literal parameter will work
+        ));
+    }
 }