diff --git a/dateutil/parser/_parser.py b/dateutil/parser/_parser.py
index 0da0f3e6b..7df6a2916 100644
--- a/dateutil/parser/_parser.py
+++ b/dateutil/parser/_parser.py
@@ -1166,6 +1166,9 @@ def _build_tzinfo(self, tzinfos, tzname, tzoffset):
             tzinfo = tz.tzstr(tzdata)
         elif isinstance(tzdata, integer_types):
             tzinfo = tz.tzoffset(tzname, tzdata)
+        else:
+            raise TypeError("Offset must be tzinfo subclass, tz string, "
+                            "or int offset.")
         return tzinfo
 
     def _build_tzaware(self, naive, res, tzinfos):
diff --git a/dateutil/test/test_parser.py b/dateutil/test/test_parser.py
index 21584c611..c95631ceb 100644
--- a/dateutil/test/test_parser.py
+++ b/dateutil/test/test_parser.py
@@ -238,6 +238,60 @@ def test_parse_bytearray(self):
         assert res == expected
 
 
+class TestTzinfoInputTypes(object):
+    def test_tzinfo_dict_could_return_none(self):
+        dstr = "2017-02-03 12:40 BRST"
+        result = parse(dstr, tzinfos={"BRST": None})
+        expected = datetime(2017, 2, 3, 12, 40)
+        assert result == expected
+
+    def test_tzinfos_callable_could_return_none(self):
+        dstr = "2017-02-03 12:40 BRST"
+        result = parse(dstr, tzinfos=lambda *args: None)
+        expected = datetime(2017, 2, 3, 12, 40)
+        assert result == expected
+
+    def test_invalid_tzinfo_input(self):
+        dstr = "2014 January 19 09:00 UTC"
+        # Pass an absurd tzinfos object
+        tzinfos = {"UTC": ValueError}
+        with pytest.raises(TypeError):
+            parse(dstr, tzinfos=tzinfos)
+
+    def test_valid_tzinfo_tzinfo_input(self):
+        dstr = "2014 January 19 09:00 UTC"
+        tzinfos = {"UTC": tz.tzutc()}
+        expected = datetime(2014, 1, 19, 9, tzinfo=tz.tzutc())
+        res = parse(dstr, tzinfos=tzinfos)
+        assert res == expected
+
+    def test_valid_tzinfo_unicode_input(self):
+        dstr = "2014 January 19 09:00 UTC"
+        tzinfos = {u"UTC": u"UTC+0"}
+        expected = datetime(2014, 1, 19, 9, tzinfo=tz.tzutc())
+        res = parse(dstr, tzinfos=tzinfos)
+        assert res == expected
+
+    def test_valid_tzinfo_callable_input(self):
+        dstr = "2014 January 19 09:00 UTC"
+
+        def tzinfos(*args, **kwargs):
+            return u"UTC+0"
+
+        expected = datetime(2014, 1, 19, 9, tzinfo=tz.tzutc())
+        res = parse(dstr, tzinfos=tzinfos)
+        assert res == expected
+
+    @pytest.mark.xfail(reason="Doesn't check for UTC in tzinfos dict, "
+                              "not sure it *should*.")
+    def test_valid_tzinfo_int_input(self):
+        dstr = "2014 January 19 09:00 UTC"
+        tzinfos = {u"UTC": -28800}
+        expected = datetime(2014, 1, 19, 9, tzinfo=tz.tzutc())
+        res = parse(dstr, tzinfos=tzinfos)
+        assert res == expected
+
+
 class ParserTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     @classmethod
@@ -508,14 +562,6 @@ def testUnspecifiedDayFallbackFebLeapYear(self):
         self.assertEqual(parse("Feb 2008", default=datetime(2010, 1, 31)),
                          datetime(2008, 2, 29))
 
-    def testTzinfoDictionaryCouldReturnNone(self):
-        self.assertEqual(parse('2017-02-03 12:40 BRST', tzinfos={"BRST": None}),
-                        datetime(2017, 2, 3, 12, 40))
-
-    def testTzinfosCallableCouldReturnNone(self):
-        self.assertEqual(parse('2017-02-03 12:40 BRST', tzinfos=lambda *args: None),
-                                    datetime(2017, 2, 3, 12, 40))
-
     def testErrorType01(self):
         with pytest.raises(ValueError):
             parse('shouldfail')