diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index f2c6796e..a9023aad 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -9,6 +9,13 @@
     "require": {
         "ext-mbstring": "*"
     },
+    "require-dev": {
+        "phpunit/phpunit": "~4"
+    },
+    "suggest": {
+        "ext-intl": "*",
+        "true/punycode": "to handle UTF-8 emails, if you don't have ext-intl"
+    },
     "autoload": {
         "psr-0": {
             "Assert": "lib/"
diff --git a/lib/Assert/Assertion.php b/lib/Assert/Assertion.php
index b17cafc2..cc447937 100644
--- a/lib/Assert/Assertion.php
+++ b/lib/Assert/Assertion.php
@@ -1117,7 +1117,7 @@ public static function email($value, $message = null, $propertyPath = null)
     {
         static::string($value, $message, $propertyPath);
 
-        if ( ! filter_var($value, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
+        if ( ! filter_var(self::convertEmailToIdna($value), FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
             $message = sprintf(
                 $message ?: 'Value "%s" was expected to be a valid e-mail address.',
                 self::stringify($value)
@@ -1139,6 +1139,29 @@ public static function email($value, $message = null, $propertyPath = null)
         }
     }
 
+    private static function convertEmailToIdna($email)
+    {
+        $convertIdna = function ($value) {
+            if (function_exists('idn_to_ascii')) {
+                return idn_to_ascii($value);
+            } elseif (class_exists('\True\Punycode')) {
+                $prevEncoding = mb_internal_encoding();
+                mb_internal_encoding('utf-8');
+                $punycode = new \True\Punycode();
+                $result = $punycode->encode($value);
+                mb_internal_encoding($prevEncoding);
+
+                return $result;
+            }
+
+            return $value;
+        };
+
+        $result = implode('@', array_map($convertIdna, explode('@', $email)));
+
+        return $result;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Assert that value is an URL.
      *
diff --git a/tests/Assert/Tests/AssertTest.php b/tests/Assert/Tests/AssertTest.php
index e268769c..1f294011 100644
--- a/tests/Assert/Tests/AssertTest.php
+++ b/tests/Assert/Tests/AssertTest.php
@@ -457,25 +457,48 @@ public function testValidRange()
         Assertion::range(2.5, 2.25, 2.75);
     }
 
-    public function testInvalidEmail()
+    /**
+     * @param string $invalidEmail
+     * @dataProvider dataInvalidEmail
+     */
+    public function testInvalidEmail($invalidEmail)
     {
         $this->setExpectedException('Assert\AssertionFailedException', null, Assertion::INVALID_EMAIL);
-        Assertion::email("foo");
+        Assertion::email($invalidEmail);
     }
 
-    public function testValidEmail()
+    public static function dataInvalidEmail()
     {
-        Assertion::email("123hello+world@email.provider.com");
+        return array(
+            'no @' => array("foo"),
+            'no domain' => array("foo@"),
+            'two ats' => array("foo@baz@example.com"),
+            'double quot' => array('foo"a@example.com'),
+            'double quot in domain' => array('fooa@exam"ple.com'),
+            "\xb2 symbol" => array("foo\xb2a@example.com"),
+            'contains space' => array("fo o@example.com"),
+            'leading space' => array(" foo@example.com"),
+            'trailing space' => array("foo@example.com "),
+        );
     }
 
     /**
-     * @dataProvider dataInvalidUrl
+     * @param string $validEmail
+     * @dataProvider dataValidEmail
      */
-    public function testInvalidUrl($url)
+    public function testValidEmail($validEmail)
     {
-        $this->setExpectedException('Assert\AssertionFailedException', null, Assertion::INVALID_URL);
+        Assertion::email($validEmail);
+    }
 
-        Assertion::url($url);
+    public static function dataValidEmail()
+    {
+        return array(
+            'regular email' => array("123hello+world@email.provider.com"),
+            'mixed case' => array("soMeUser@email.Provider.com"),
+            'valid special chars' => array("!#$%&'*+-=?^_`{|}~@example.com"),
+            'cyrillic characters ' => array("вася@домен.рф"),
+        );
     }
 
     public static function dataInvalidUrl()