diff --git a/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/model/Bind.java b/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/model/Bind.java
index 6779e2580..0c4dd3150 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/model/Bind.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/model/Bind.java
@@ -33,6 +33,13 @@ public boolean isReadOnly() {
 		return readOnly;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Parses a bind mount specification to a {@link Bind}.
+	 * 
+	 * @param serialized the specification, e.g. <code>/host:/container:ro</code>
+	 * @return a {@link Bind} matching the specification
+	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the specification cannot be parsed
+	 */
 	public static Bind parse(String serialized) {
 		try {
 			String[] parts = serialized.split(":");
@@ -41,19 +48,19 @@ public static Bind parse(String serialized) {
 				return new Bind(parts[0], Volume.parse(parts[1]));
 			}
 			case 3: {
-				if ("rw".equals(parts[3].toLowerCase()))
+				if ("rw".equals(parts[2].toLowerCase()))
+					return new Bind(parts[0], Volume.parse(parts[1]), false);
+				else if ("ro".equals(parts[2].toLowerCase()))
 					return new Bind(parts[0], Volume.parse(parts[1]), true);
 				else
-					throw new RuntimeException("Error parsing Bind '"
-							+ serialized + "'");
+					throw new IllegalArgumentException();
 			}
 			default: {
-				throw new RuntimeException("Error parsing Bind '" + serialized
-						+ "'");
+				throw new IllegalArgumentException();
 			}
 			}
 		} catch (Exception e) {
-			throw new RuntimeException("Error parsing Bind '" + serialized
+			throw new IllegalArgumentException("Error parsing Bind '" + serialized
 					+ "'");
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/model/BindTest.java b/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/model/BindTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..412c537fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/github/dockerjava/api/model/BindTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+package com.github.dockerjava.api.model;
+
+import static org.testng.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+import org.testng.annotations.Test;
+
+public class BindTest {
+	
+	@Test
+	public void parseUsingDefaultAccessMode() {
+		Bind bind = Bind.parse("/host:/container");
+		assertEquals(bind.getPath(), "/host");
+		assertEquals(bind.getVolume().getPath(), "/container");
+		assertEquals(bind.isReadOnly(), false);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void parseReadWrite() {
+		Bind bind = Bind.parse("/host:/container:rw");
+		assertEquals(bind.getPath(), "/host");
+		assertEquals(bind.getVolume().getPath(), "/container");
+		assertEquals(bind.isReadOnly(), false);
+	}
+	
+	@Test
+	public void parseReadOnly() {
+		Bind bind = Bind.parse("/host:/container:ro");
+		assertEquals(bind.getPath(), "/host");
+		assertEquals(bind.getVolume().getPath(), "/container");
+		assertEquals(bind.isReadOnly(), true);
+	}
+
+	@Test(expectedExceptions = IllegalArgumentException.class,
+			expectedExceptionsMessageRegExp = "Error parsing Bind.*")
+	public void parseInvalidAccessMode() {
+		Bind.parse("/host:/container:xx");
+	}
+
+	@Test(expectedExceptions = IllegalArgumentException.class, 
+			expectedExceptionsMessageRegExp = "Error parsing Bind 'nonsense'")
+	public void parseInvalidInput() {
+		Bind.parse("nonsense");
+	}
+
+	@Test(expectedExceptions = IllegalArgumentException.class, 
+			expectedExceptionsMessageRegExp = "Error parsing Bind 'null'")
+	public void parseNull() {
+		Bind.parse(null);
+	}
+
+}