diff --git a/rest_framework/compound_fields.py b/rest_framework/compound_fields.py
index fce6eb84f..1766ccae9 100644
--- a/rest_framework/compound_fields.py
+++ b/rest_framework/compound_fields.py
@@ -2,7 +2,11 @@
 Compound fields for processing values that are lists and dicts of values described by embedded
 fields.
 """
+from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError
+from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
+
 from .fields import WritableField
+from rest_framework.compat import six
 
 
 class ListField(WritableField):
@@ -11,6 +15,10 @@ class ListField(WritableField):
     be another field type (e.g., CharField) or a serializer.
     """
 
+    default_error_messages = {
+        'invalid_type': _('%(value)s is not a list.'),
+    }
+
     def __init__(self, item_field=None, *args, **kwargs):
         super(ListField, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
         self.item_field = item_field
@@ -31,6 +39,24 @@ class ListField(WritableField):
             ]
         return data
 
+    def validate(self, value):
+        super(ListField, self).validate(value)
+
+        if not isinstance(value, list):
+            raise ValidationError(self.error_messages['invalid_type'] % {'value': value})
+
+        if self.item_field:
+            errors = {}
+            for index, item in enumerate(value):
+                try:
+                    self.item_field.validate(item)
+                    self.item_field.run_validators(item)
+                except ValidationError as e:
+                    errors[index] = [e]
+
+            if errors:
+                raise ValidationError(errors)
+
 
 class DictField(WritableField):
     """
@@ -38,6 +64,10 @@ class DictField(WritableField):
     can be another field type (e.g., CharField) or a serializer.
     """
 
+    default_error_messages = {
+        'invalid_type': _('%(value)s is not a dict.'),
+    }
+
     def __init__(self, value_field=None, unicode_options=None, *args, **kwargs):
         super(DictField, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
         self.value_field = value_field
@@ -58,3 +88,21 @@ class DictField(WritableField):
                 for key, value in data.items()
             )
         return data
+
+    def validate(self, value):
+        super(DictField, self).validate(value)
+
+        if not isinstance(value, dict):
+            raise ValidationError(self.error_messages['invalid_type'] % {'value': value})
+
+        if self.value_field:
+            errors = {}
+            for k, v in six.iteritems(value):
+                try:
+                    self.value_field.validate(v)
+                    self.value_field.run_validators(v)
+                except ValidationError as e:
+                    errors[k] = [e]
+
+            if errors:
+                raise ValidationError(errors)