diff --git a/src/main/java/org/warp/commonutils/concurrency/executor/BoundedExecutorService.java b/src/main/java/org/warp/commonutils/concurrency/executor/BoundedExecutorService.java
index 9fc7928..368e87f 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/warp/commonutils/concurrency/executor/BoundedExecutorService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/warp/commonutils/concurrency/executor/BoundedExecutorService.java
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ public class BoundedExecutorService {
 			long keepAliveTime,
 			TimeUnit unit,
 			@Nullable BiConsumer<Boolean, Integer> queueSizeStatus) {
+		if (corePoolSize <= 0) throw new IllegalArgumentException("Core pool size must be >=1 if the executor service is bounded");
 		return create(maxQueueSize, corePoolSize, maxPoolSize, keepAliveTime, unit, Executors.defaultThreadFactory(), queueSizeStatus);
 	}
 
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ public class BoundedExecutorService {
 			TimeUnit unit,
 			ThreadFactory threadFactory,
 			@Nullable BiConsumer<Boolean, Integer> queueSizeStatus) {
+		if (corePoolSize <= 0) throw new IllegalArgumentException("Core pool size must be >=1 if the executor service is bounded");
 		return createCustom(maxQueueSize, corePoolSize, maxPoolSize, keepAliveTime, unit, threadFactory, Duration.ofDays(100000), queueSizeStatus, new LinkedBlockingQueue<>(MAX_BLOCKING_QUEUE_SIZE));
 	}
 
@@ -81,6 +83,7 @@ public class BoundedExecutorService {
 			ThreadFactory threadFactory,
 			@Nullable BiConsumer<Boolean, Integer> queueSizeStatus,
 			BlockingQueue<Runnable> queue) {
+		if (corePoolSize <= 0) throw new IllegalArgumentException("Core pool size must be >=1 if the executor service is bounded");
 		return createCustom(maxQueueSize, corePoolSize, maxPoolSize, keepAliveTime, unit, threadFactory, Duration.ofDays(100000), queueSizeStatus, queue);
 	}