diff --git a/schema.py b/schema.py
index d2376a0..ee8d65f 100644
--- a/schema.py
+++ b/schema.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import inspect
+
 __version__ = '0.2.0'
 
 
@@ -159,7 +161,7 @@ def validate(self, data):
             except BaseException as x:
                 raise SchemaError('%r.validate(%r) raised %r' % (s, data, x),
                                  self._error)
-        if type(s) is type:
+        if inspect.isclass(s):
             if isinstance(data, s):
                 return data
             else:
diff --git a/test_schema.py b/test_schema.py
index 2a0d55a..74f3550 100644
--- a/test_schema.py
+++ b/test_schema.py
@@ -333,3 +333,11 @@ def test_issue_9_prioritized_key_comparison_in_dicts():
     assert s.validate(data) == data
     data = {'ID': 10, 'FILE': None}
     assert s.validate(data) == data
+
+
+def test_old_style_classes():
+    # This test should be done with Python 2
+
+    class Bar:  pass
+
+    assert Schema(Bar).validate(Bar())