diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index cba1a94..1f6b966 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ rvm:
   - jruby-19mode
 before_install:
   - git submodule update --init --recursive
+  - gem update bundler
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index f94b712..03cf238 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -3,4 +3,6 @@ source 'https://rubygems.org'
 # Specify your gem's dependencies in json-patch.gemspec
 gem 'minitest'
 gem 'coveralls', require: false
+gem 'rake', '~> 10.5.0' if RUBY_VERSION < '1.9.3'
+gem 'rake' if RUBY_VERSION >= '1.9.3'
 gemspec
diff --git a/lib/json/patch.rb b/lib/json/patch.rb
index f08ee25..6523c9f 100644
--- a/lib/json/patch.rb
+++ b/lib/json/patch.rb
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ def add_operation(target_doc, path, value)
     end
 
     def add_object(target_doc, target_item, ref_token, value)
-      raise JSON::PatchError if target_item.nil? 
+      raise JSON::PatchError if (target_item.nil? || !(Hash === target_item))
       if ref_token.nil?
         target_doc.replace(value)
       else
@@ -130,8 +130,10 @@ def remove_operation(target_doc, path)
 
       if Array === target_item
         target_item.delete_at ref_token.to_i if valid_index?(target_item, ref_token)
-      else
+      elsif Hash === target_item
         target_item.delete ref_token
+      else
+        raise JSON::PatchError
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/test/ietf_test.rb b/test/ietf_test.rb
index 9ea2fa5..fc0c806 100644
--- a/test/ietf_test.rb
+++ b/test/ietf_test.rb
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
         describe "JSON::Patch.new" do
           it "#{comment || spec['error'] || index}" do
 
-            target_doc     = spec['doc'] if spec['doc']
+            target_doc     = Marshal.load(Marshal.dump(spec['doc'])) if spec['doc']
             operations_doc = spec['patch'] if spec['patch']
             expected_doc   = spec['expected'] if spec['expected']
 
diff --git a/test/json-patch_test.rb b/test/json-patch_test.rb
index fd7591f..0fb3f80 100644
--- a/test/json-patch_test.rb
+++ b/test/json-patch_test.rb
@@ -121,6 +121,17 @@
     end
   end
 
+  describe "the target location MUST reference" do
+    let(:target_document) { %q'{"foo":"bar","baz":"wat"}' }
+    let(:operation_document) { %q'[{ "op": "add", "path": "/baz/quux", "value": "qux" }]' }
+
+    it "will raise exception if the target location is string (neither an array nor object)" do
+      assert_raises(JSON::PatchError) do
+        JSON.patch(target_document, operation_document)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
 =begin
 TODO
 When the operation is applied, the target location MUST reference one of:
@@ -176,6 +187,18 @@
     end
   end
 
+  describe "The target location MUST exist for the operation to be successful." do
+    let(:target_document) { %q'{"foo":"bar","baz":"qux"}' }
+    let(:operation_document) { %q'[{ "op": "remove", "path": "/foo/baz" }]' }
+
+    it "will rails an exception if the member in the path does not exist" do
+      assert_raises(JSON::PatchError) do
+       JSON.patch(target_document, operation_document)
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+
 end
 
 describe "Section 4.3: The replace operation" do