diff --git a/cmd/bbolt/main.go b/cmd/bbolt/main.go
index ff24df0..8bca086 100644
--- a/cmd/bbolt/main.go
+++ b/cmd/bbolt/main.go
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ func (cmd *CheckCommand) Run(args ...string) error {
 	// Perform consistency check.
 	return db.View(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
 		var count int
-		for err := range tx.Check() {
+		for err := range tx.Check(CmdKeyValueStringer()) {
 			fmt.Fprintln(cmd.Stdout, err)
 			count++
 		}
@@ -1689,3 +1689,25 @@ Additional options include:
 		Defaults to 64KB.
 `, "\n")
 }
+
+type cmdKeyValueStringer struct{}
+
+func (_ cmdKeyValueStringer) KeyToString(key []byte) string {
+	if isPrintable(string(key)) {
+		return string(key)
+	} else {
+		return hex.EncodeToString(key)
+	}
+}
+
+func (_ cmdKeyValueStringer) ValueToString(value []byte) string {
+	if isPrintable(string(value)) {
+		return string(value)
+	} else {
+		return hex.EncodeToString(value)
+	}
+}
+
+func CmdKeyValueStringer() bolt.KeyValueStringer {
+	return cmdKeyValueStringer{}
+}
diff --git a/db.go b/db.go
index d9749f4..ed3c886 100644
--- a/db.go
+++ b/db.go
@@ -1148,9 +1148,11 @@ func (db *DB) freepages() []pgid {
 			panic(fmt.Sprintf("freepages: failed to get all reachable pages (%v)", e))
 		}
 	}()
-	tx.checkBucket(&tx.root, reachable, nofreed, ech)
+	tx.checkBucket(&tx.root, reachable, nofreed, HexKeyValueStringer(), ech)
 	close(ech)
 
+	// TODO: If check bucket reported any corruptions (ech) we shouldn't proceed to freeing the pages.
+
 	var fids []pgid
 	for i := pgid(2); i < db.meta().pgid; i++ {
 		if _, ok := reachable[i]; !ok {
diff --git a/db_test.go b/db_test.go
index 3d9f229..c7ce9ce 100644
--- a/db_test.go
+++ b/db_test.go
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ func TestOpen_Check(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	if err = db.View(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error { return <-tx.Check() }); err != nil {
+	if err = db.View(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error { return <-tx.Check(bolt.HexKeyValueStringer()) }); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	if err = db.Close(); err != nil {
@@ -407,7 +407,7 @@ func TestOpen_Check(t *testing.T) {
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
-	if err := db.View(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error { return <-tx.Check() }); err != nil {
+	if err := db.View(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error { return <-tx.Check(bolt.HexKeyValueStringer()) }); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 	if err := db.Close(); err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/btesting/btesting.go b/internal/btesting/btesting.go
index b305072..42ec2b1 100644
--- a/internal/btesting/btesting.go
+++ b/internal/btesting/btesting.go
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ func (db *DB) MustCheck() {
 	err := db.Update(func(tx *bolt.Tx) error {
 		// Collect all the errors.
 		var errors []error
-		for err := range tx.Check() {
+		for err := range tx.Check(bolt.HexKeyValueStringer()) {
 			errors = append(errors, err)
 			if len(errors) > 10 {
 				break
diff --git a/node.go b/node.go
index b5ddce6..321536b 100644
--- a/node.go
+++ b/node.go
@@ -585,6 +585,10 @@ func (n *node) dump() {
 }
 */
 
+func compareKeys(left, right []byte) int {
+	return bytes.Compare(left, right)
+}
+
 type nodes []*node
 
 func (s nodes) Len() int      { return len(s) }
diff --git a/tx.go b/tx.go
index 4c605a2..e9f13b5 100644
--- a/tx.go
+++ b/tx.go
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ func (tx *Tx) Commit() error {
 
 	// If strict mode is enabled then perform a consistency check.
 	if tx.db.StrictMode {
-		ch := tx.Check()
+		ch := tx.Check(HexKeyValueStringer())
 		var errs []string
 		for {
 			err, ok := <-ch
diff --git a/tx_check.go b/tx_check.go
index 84d3eb5..350cbf2 100644
--- a/tx_check.go
+++ b/tx_check.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package bbolt
 
-import "fmt"
+import (
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"fmt"
+)
 
 // Check performs several consistency checks on the database for this transaction.
 // An error is returned if any inconsistency is found.
@@ -10,13 +13,13 @@ import "fmt"
 // because of caching. This overhead can be removed if running on a read-only
 // transaction, however, it is not safe to execute other writer transactions at
 // the same time.
-func (tx *Tx) Check() <-chan error {
+func (tx *Tx) Check(keyValueStringer KeyValueStringer) <-chan error {
 	ch := make(chan error)
-	go tx.check(ch)
+	go tx.check(keyValueStringer, ch)
 	return ch
 }
 
-func (tx *Tx) check(ch chan error) {
+func (tx *Tx) check(keyValueStringer KeyValueStringer, ch chan error) {
 	// Force loading free list if opened in ReadOnly mode.
 	tx.db.loadFreelist()
 
@@ -42,7 +45,7 @@ func (tx *Tx) check(ch chan error) {
 	}
 
 	// Recursively check buckets.
-	tx.checkBucket(&tx.root, reachable, freed, ch)
+	tx.checkBucket(&tx.root, reachable, freed, keyValueStringer, ch)
 
 	// Ensure all pages below high water mark are either reachable or freed.
 	for i := pgid(0); i < tx.meta.pgid; i++ {
@@ -56,7 +59,8 @@ func (tx *Tx) check(ch chan error) {
 	close(ch)
 }
 
-func (tx *Tx) checkBucket(b *Bucket, reachable map[pgid]*page, freed map[pgid]bool, ch chan error) {
+func (tx *Tx) checkBucket(b *Bucket, reachable map[pgid]*page, freed map[pgid]bool,
+	keyValueStringer KeyValueStringer, ch chan error) {
 	// Ignore inline buckets.
 	if b.root == 0 {
 		return
@@ -85,11 +89,114 @@ func (tx *Tx) checkBucket(b *Bucket, reachable map[pgid]*page, freed map[pgid]bo
 		}
 	})
 
+	tx.recursivelyCheckPages(b.root, keyValueStringer.KeyToString, ch)
+
 	// Check each bucket within this bucket.
 	_ = b.ForEachBucket(func(k []byte) error {
 		if child := b.Bucket(k); child != nil {
-			tx.checkBucket(child, reachable, freed, ch)
+			tx.checkBucket(child, reachable, freed, keyValueStringer, ch)
 		}
 		return nil
 	})
 }
+
+// recursivelyCheckPages confirms database consistency with respect to b-tree
+// key order constraints:
+//   - keys on pages must be sorted
+//   - keys on children pages are between 2 consecutive keys on the parent's branch page).
+func (tx *Tx) recursivelyCheckPages(pgid pgid, keyToString func([]byte) string, ch chan error) {
+	tx.recursivelyCheckPagesInternal(pgid, nil, nil, nil, keyToString, ch)
+}
+
+// recursivelyCheckPagesInternal verifies that all keys in the subtree rooted at `pgid` are:
+//   - >=`minKeyClosed` (can be nil)
+//   - <`maxKeyOpen` (can be nil)
+//   - Are in right ordering relationship to their parents.
+//     `pagesStack` is expected to contain IDs of pages from the tree root to `pgid` for the clean debugging message.
+func (tx *Tx) recursivelyCheckPagesInternal(
+	pgid pgid, minKeyClosed, maxKeyOpen []byte, pagesStack []pgid,
+	keyToString func([]byte) string, ch chan error) (maxKeyInSubtree []byte) {
+
+	p := tx.page(pgid)
+	pagesStack = append(pagesStack, pgid)
+	switch {
+	case p.flags&branchPageFlag != 0:
+		// For branch page we navigate ranges of all subpages.
+		runningMin := minKeyClosed
+		for i := range p.branchPageElements() {
+			elem := p.branchPageElement(uint16(i))
+			if i == 0 && runningMin != nil && compareKeys(runningMin, elem.key()) > 0 {
+				ch <- fmt.Errorf("key (%d, %s) on the branch page(%d) needs to be >="+
+					" to the index in the ancestor. Pages stack: %v",
+					i, keyToString(elem.key()), pgid, pagesStack)
+			}
+
+			if maxKeyOpen != nil && compareKeys(elem.key(), maxKeyOpen) >= 0 {
+				ch <- fmt.Errorf("key (%d: %s) on the branch page(%d) needs to be <"+
+					" than key of the next element reachable from the ancestor (%v). Pages stack: %v",
+					i, keyToString(elem.key()), pgid, keyToString(maxKeyOpen), pagesStack)
+			}
+
+			var maxKey []byte
+			if i < len(p.branchPageElements())-1 {
+				maxKey = p.branchPageElement(uint16(i + 1)).key()
+			} else {
+				maxKey = maxKeyOpen
+			}
+			maxKeyInSubtree = tx.recursivelyCheckPagesInternal(elem.pgid, elem.key(), maxKey, pagesStack, keyToString, ch)
+			runningMin = maxKeyInSubtree
+		}
+		return
+	case p.flags&leafPageFlag != 0:
+		runningMin := minKeyClosed
+		for i := range p.leafPageElements() {
+			elem := p.leafPageElement(uint16(i))
+			if i == 0 && runningMin != nil && compareKeys(runningMin, elem.key()) > 0 {
+				ch <- fmt.Errorf("key[%d]=(hex)%s on leaf page(%d) needs to be >= to the key in the ancestor. Stack: %v",
+					i, keyToString(elem.key()), pgid, pagesStack)
+			}
+			if i > 0 && compareKeys(runningMin, elem.key()) > 0 {
+				ch <- fmt.Errorf("key[%d]=(hex)%s on leaf page(%d) needs to be > (found <) than previous element (hex)%s. Stack: %v",
+					i, keyToString(elem.key()), pgid, keyToString(runningMin), pagesStack)
+			}
+			if i > 0 && compareKeys(runningMin, elem.key()) == 0 {
+				ch <- fmt.Errorf("key[%d]=(hex)%s on leaf page(%d) needs to be > (found =) than previous element (hex)%s. Stack: %v",
+					i, keyToString(elem.key()), pgid, keyToString(runningMin), pagesStack)
+			}
+			if maxKeyOpen != nil && compareKeys(elem.key(), maxKeyOpen) >= 0 {
+				ch <- fmt.Errorf("key[%d]=(hex)%s on leaf page(%d) needs to be < than key of the next element in ancestor (hex)%s. Pages stack: %v",
+					i, keyToString(elem.key()), pgid, keyToString(maxKeyOpen), pagesStack)
+			}
+			runningMin = elem.key()
+		}
+		if p.count > 0 {
+			return p.leafPageElement(p.count - 1).key()
+		}
+	default:
+		ch <- fmt.Errorf("unexpected page type for pgid:%d", pgid)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// ===========================================================================================
+
+// KeyValueStringer allows to prepare human-readable diagnostic messages.
+type KeyValueStringer interface {
+	KeyToString([]byte) string
+	ValueToString([]byte) string
+}
+
+// HexKeyValueStringer serializes both key & value to hex representation.
+func HexKeyValueStringer() KeyValueStringer {
+	return hexKeyValueStringer{}
+}
+
+type hexKeyValueStringer struct{}
+
+func (_ hexKeyValueStringer) KeyToString(key []byte) string {
+	return hex.EncodeToString(key)
+}
+
+func (_ hexKeyValueStringer) ValueToString(value []byte) string {
+	return hex.EncodeToString(value)
+}
diff --git a/tx_test.go b/tx_test.go
index 8b1b46c..9d2f042 100644
--- a/tx_test.go
+++ b/tx_test.go
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ func TestTx_Check_ReadOnly(t *testing.T) {
 	numChecks := 2
 	errc := make(chan error, numChecks)
 	check := func() {
-		errc <- <-tx.Check()
+		err, _ := <-tx.Check(bolt.HexKeyValueStringer())
+		errc <- err
 	}
 	// Ensure the freelist is not reloaded and does not race.
 	for i := 0; i < numChecks; i++ {