diff --git a/hspec.cabal b/hspec.cabal
--- a/hspec.cabal
+++ b/hspec.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:             hspec
-version:          1.6.2
+version:          1.7.0
 license:          MIT
 license-file:     LICENSE
 copyright:        (c) 2011-2013 Simon Hengel,
diff --git a/src/Test/Hspec/Config.hs b/src/Test/Hspec/Config.hs
--- a/src/Test/Hspec/Config.hs
+++ b/src/Test/Hspec/Config.hs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 import           Control.Applicative
 import           Data.List
+import           Data.Maybe
 import           System.IO
 import           System.Exit
 import qualified Test.QuickCheck as QC
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@
 -- that satisfy the predicate are run.
 , configFilterPredicate :: Maybe (Path -> Bool)
 , configQuickCheckArgs  :: QC.Args
+, configSmallCheckDepth :: Int
 , configColorMode       :: ColorMode
 , configFormatter       :: Formatter
 , configHtmlOutput      :: Bool
@@ -38,7 +40,7 @@
 }
 
 defaultConfig :: Config
-defaultConfig = Config False False False Nothing QC.stdArgs ColorAuto specdoc False (Left stdout)
+defaultConfig = Config False False False Nothing QC.stdArgs 5 ColorAuto specdoc False (Left stdout)
 
 -- | Add a filter predicate to config.  If there is already a filter predicate,
 -- then combine them with `||`.
@@ -62,6 +64,7 @@
   , configFastFail        = optionsFastFail opts
   , configFilterPredicate = matchFilter `filterOr` rerunFilter
   , configQuickCheckArgs  = qcArgs
+  , configSmallCheckDepth = fromMaybe (configSmallCheckDepth defaultConfig) (optionsDepth opts)
   , configColorMode       = optionsColorMode opts
   , configFormatter       = optionsFormatter opts
   , configHtmlOutput      = optionsHtmlOutput opts
diff --git a/src/Test/Hspec/Core/Type.hs b/src/Test/Hspec/Core/Type.hs
--- a/src/Test/Hspec/Core/Type.hs
+++ b/src/Test/Hspec/Core/Type.hs
@@ -67,8 +67,9 @@
 type Progress = (Int, Int)
 
 data Params = Params {
-  paramsQuickCheckArgs :: QC.Args
-, paramsReportProgress :: Progress -> IO ()
+  paramsQuickCheckArgs  :: QC.Args
+, paramsSmallCheckDepth :: Int
+, paramsReportProgress  :: Progress -> IO ()
 }
 
 -- | Internal representation of a spec.
diff --git a/src/Test/Hspec/Options.hs b/src/Test/Hspec/Options.hs
--- a/src/Test/Hspec/Options.hs
+++ b/src/Test/Hspec/Options.hs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 , optionsFastFail     :: Bool
 , optionsMatch        :: [String]
 , optionsMaxSuccess   :: Maybe Int
+, optionsDepth        :: Maybe Int
 , optionsSeed         :: Maybe Integer
 , optionsMaxSize      :: Maybe Int
 , optionsMaxDiscardRatio :: Maybe Int
@@ -37,6 +38,9 @@
 addMatch :: String -> Options -> Options
 addMatch s c = c {optionsMatch = s : optionsMatch c}
 
+setDepth :: Int -> Options -> Options
+setDepth n c = c {optionsDepth = Just n}
+
 setMaxSuccess :: Int -> Options -> Options
 setMaxSuccess n c = c {optionsMaxSuccess = Just n}
 
@@ -53,7 +57,7 @@
   deriving (Eq, Show)
 
 defaultOptions :: Options
-defaultOptions = Options False False False False [] Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing ColorAuto specdoc False Nothing
+defaultOptions = Options False False False False [] Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing Nothing ColorAuto specdoc False Nothing
 
 formatters :: [(String, Formatter)]
 formatters = [
@@ -95,6 +99,7 @@
   , Option   []  ["no-color"]         (NoArg setNoColor)                  (h "do not colorize the output")
   , mkOption "f"  "format"            (Arg "FORMATTER" readFormatter setFormatter) formatHelp
   , mkOption "o"  "out"               (Arg "FILE" return setOutputFile)   (h "write output to a file instead of STDOUT")
+  , mkOption []   "depth"             (Arg "N" readMaybe setDepth)        (h "maximum depth of generated test values for SmallCheck properties")
   , mkOption "a"  "qc-max-success"    (Arg "N" readMaybe setMaxSuccess)   (h "maximum number of successful tests before a QuickCheck property succeeds")
   , mkOption ""   "qc-max-size"       (Arg "N" readMaybe setMaxSize)      (h "size to use for the biggest test cases")
   , mkOption ""   "qc-max-discard"    (Arg "N" readMaybe setMaxDiscardRatio) (h "maximum number of discarded tests per successful test before giving up")
diff --git a/src/Test/Hspec/Runner/Eval.hs b/src/Test/Hspec/Runner/Eval.hs
--- a/src/Test/Hspec/Runner/Eval.hs
+++ b/src/Test/Hspec/Runner/Eval.hs
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@
     evalExample :: (Params -> IO Result) -> (Progress -> IO ()) -> IO (Either E.SomeException Result)
     evalExample e progressHandler
       | configDryRun c = return (Right Success)
-      | otherwise      = (safeTry . fmap forceResult) (e $ Params (configQuickCheckArgs c) progressHandler)
+      | otherwise      = (safeTry . fmap forceResult) (e $ Params (configQuickCheckArgs c) (configSmallCheckDepth c) progressHandler)
 
 replaceMVar :: MVar a -> a -> IO ()
 replaceMVar mvar p = tryTakeMVar mvar >> putMVar mvar p
diff --git a/test/Helper.hs b/test/Helper.hs
--- a/test/Helper.hs
+++ b/test/Helper.hs
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@
         | otherwise  = x
 
 defaultParams :: H.Params
-defaultParams = H.Params (H.configQuickCheckArgs H.defaultConfig) (const $ return ())
+defaultParams = H.Params (H.configQuickCheckArgs H.defaultConfig) (H.configSmallCheckDepth H.defaultConfig) (const $ return ())
 
 sleep :: POSIXTime -> IO ()
 sleep = threadDelay . floor . (* 1000000)
diff --git a/test/Test/Hspec/OptionsSpec.hs b/test/Test/Hspec/OptionsSpec.hs
--- a/test/Test/Hspec/OptionsSpec.hs
+++ b/test/Test/Hspec/OptionsSpec.hs
@@ -38,3 +38,7 @@
       context "when given an invalid argument" $ do
         it "returns an error message" $ do
           fromLeft (parseOptions ["--qc-max-success", "foo"]) `shouldBe` (ExitFailure 1, "my-spec: invalid argument `foo' for `--qc-max-success'\nTry `my-spec --help' for more information.\n")
+
+    context "with --depth" $ do
+      it "sets depth parameter for SmallCheck" $ do
+        optionsDepth <$> parseOptions ["--depth", "23"] `shouldBe` Right (Just 23)