diff --git a/docs/language/api.rst b/docs/language/api.rst
index 40c8000..625ebc0 100644
--- a/docs/language/api.rst
+++ b/docs/language/api.rst
@@ -441,6 +441,41 @@ Parameters may have the following keywords in front of them:
         => (zig-zag-sum 1 2 3 4 5 6)
         -3
 
+&kwonly
+    .. versionadded:: 0.12.0
+
+    Parameters that can only be called as keywords. Mandatory
+    keyword-only arguments are declared with the argument's name;
+    optional keyword-only arguments are declared as a two-element list
+    containing the argument name followed by the default value (as
+    with `&optional` above).
+
+    .. code-block:: clj
+
+        => (defn compare [a b &kwonly keyfn [reverse false]]
+        ...  (let [[result (keyfn a b)]]
+        ...    (if (not reverse)
+        ...      result
+        ...      (- result))))
+        => (apply compare ["lisp" "python"]
+        ...        {"keyfn" (fn [x y]
+        ...                   (reduce - (map (fn [s] (ord (first s))) [x y])))})
+        -4
+        => (apply compare ["lisp" "python"]
+        ...        {"keyfn" (fn [x y]
+        ...                   (reduce - (map (fn [s] (ord (first s))) [x y])))
+        ...         "reverse" true})
+        4
+
+    .. code-block:: python
+
+        => (compare "lisp" "python")
+        Traceback (most recent call last):
+          File "<input>", line 1, in <module>
+        TypeError: compare() missing 1 required keyword-only argument: 'keyfn'
+
+    Availability: Python 3.
+
 .. _defn-alias / defun-alias:
 
 defn-alias / defun-alias
diff --git a/hy/compiler.py b/hy/compiler.py
index e20964b..6da7215 100644
--- a/hy/compiler.py
+++ b/hy/compiler.py
@@ -485,11 +485,13 @@ class HyASTCompiler(object):
 
     def _parse_lambda_list(self, exprs):
         """ Return FunctionDef parameter values from lambda list."""
-        ll_keywords = ("&rest", "&optional", "&key", "&kwargs")
+        ll_keywords = ("&rest", "&optional", "&key", "&kwonly", "&kwargs")
         ret = Result()
         args = []
         defaults = []
         varargs = None
+        kwonlyargs = []
+        kwonlydefaults = []
         kwargs = None
         lambda_keyword = None
 
@@ -506,6 +508,8 @@ class HyASTCompiler(object):
                     lambda_keyword = expr
                 elif expr == "&key":
                     lambda_keyword = expr
+                elif expr == "&kwonly":
+                    lambda_keyword = expr
                 elif expr == "&kwargs":
                     lambda_keyword = expr
                 else:
@@ -554,6 +558,24 @@ class HyASTCompiler(object):
                 args.append(k)
                 ret += self.compile(v)
                 defaults.append(ret.force_expr)
+            elif lambda_keyword == "&kwonly":
+                if not PY3:
+                    raise HyTypeError(expr,
+                                      "keyword-only arguments are only "
+                                      "available under Python 3")
+                if isinstance(expr, HyList):
+                    if len(expr) != 2:
+                        raise HyTypeError(expr,
+                                          "keyword-only args should be bare "
+                                          "names or 2-item lists")
+                    k, v = expr
+                    kwonlyargs.append(k)
+                    ret += self.compile(v)
+                    kwonlydefaults.append(ret.force_expr)
+                else:
+                    k = expr
+                    kwonlyargs.append(k)
+                    kwonlydefaults.append(None)
             elif lambda_keyword == "&kwargs":
                 if kwargs:
                     raise HyTypeError(expr,
@@ -561,7 +583,7 @@ class HyASTCompiler(object):
                                       "&kwargs argument")
                 kwargs = str(expr)
 
-        return ret, args, defaults, varargs, kwargs
+        return ret, args, defaults, varargs, kwonlyargs, kwonlydefaults, kwargs
 
     def _storeize(self, name, func=None):
         """Return a new `name` object with an ast.Store() context"""
@@ -2026,7 +2048,9 @@ class HyASTCompiler(object):
         if not isinstance(arglist, HyList):
             raise HyTypeError(expression,
                               "First argument to (fn) must be a list")
-        ret, args, defaults, stararg, kwargs = self._parse_lambda_list(arglist)
+
+        (ret, args, defaults, stararg,
+         kwonlyargs, kwonlydefaults, kwargs) = self._parse_lambda_list(arglist)
         for i, arg in enumerate(args):
             if isinstance(arg, HyList):
                 # Destructuring argument
@@ -2049,6 +2073,11 @@ class HyASTCompiler(object):
                             lineno=x.start_line,
                             col_offset=x.start_column) for x in args]
 
+            kwonlyargs = [ast.arg(arg=ast_str(x), annotation=None,
+                                  lineno=x.start_line,
+                                  col_offset=x.start_column)
+                          for x in kwonlyargs]
+
             # XXX: Beware. Beware. This wasn't put into the parse lambda
             # list because it's really just an internal parsing thing.
 
@@ -2065,12 +2094,18 @@ class HyASTCompiler(object):
                              lineno=x.start_line,
                              col_offset=x.start_column) for x in args]
 
+            if PY3:
+                kwonlyargs = [ast.Name(arg=ast_str(x), id=ast_str(x),
+                                       ctx=ast.Param(), lineno=x.start_line,
+                                       col_offset=x.start_column)
+                              for x in kwonlyargs]
+
         args = ast.arguments(
             args=args,
             vararg=stararg,
             kwarg=kwargs,
-            kwonlyargs=[],
-            kw_defaults=[],
+            kwonlyargs=kwonlyargs,
+            kw_defaults=kwonlydefaults,
             defaults=defaults)
 
         body = self._compile_branch(expression)
diff --git a/tests/compilers/test_ast.py b/tests/compilers/test_ast.py
index 7c9fefa..7ef5451 100644
--- a/tests/compilers/test_ast.py
+++ b/tests/compilers/test_ast.py
@@ -54,11 +54,13 @@ def cant_compile(expr):
         # error, otherwise it's a compiler bug.
         assert isinstance(e.expression, HyObject)
         assert e.message
+        return e
     except HyCompileError as e:
         # Anything that can't be compiled should raise a user friendly
         # error, otherwise it's a compiler bug.
         assert isinstance(e.exception, HyTypeError)
         assert e.traceback
+        return e
 
 
 def test_ast_bad_type():
@@ -441,10 +443,31 @@ def test_lambda_list_keywords_kwargs():
     cant_compile("(fn (x &kwargs xs &kwargs ys) (list x xs ys))")
 
 
+def test_lambda_list_keywords_kwonly():
+    """Ensure we can compile functions with &kwonly if we're on Python
+    3, or fail with an informative message on Python 2."""
+    kwonly_demo = "(fn [&kwonly a [b 2]] (print a b))"
+    if PY3:
+        code = can_compile(kwonly_demo)
+        for i, kwonlyarg_name in enumerate(('a', 'b')):
+            assert kwonlyarg_name == code.body[0].args.kwonlyargs[i].arg
+        assert code.body[0].args.kw_defaults[0] is None
+        assert code.body[0].args.kw_defaults[1].n == 2
+    else:
+        exception = cant_compile(kwonly_demo)
+        assert isinstance(exception, HyTypeError)
+        message, = exception.args
+        assert message == ("keyword-only arguments are only "
+                           "available under Python 3")
+
+
 def test_lambda_list_keywords_mixed():
     """ Ensure we can mix them up."""
     can_compile("(fn (x &rest xs &kwargs kw) (list x xs kw))")
     cant_compile("(fn (x &rest xs &fasfkey {bar \"baz\"}))")
+    if PY3:
+        can_compile("(fn [x &rest xs &kwargs kwxs &kwonly kwoxs]"
+                    "  (list x xs kwxs kwoxs))")
 
 
 def test_ast_unicode_strings():
diff --git a/tests/native_tests/py3_only_tests.hy b/tests/native_tests/py3_only_tests.hy
index 9be88f1..1ad58a7 100644
--- a/tests/native_tests/py3_only_tests.hy
+++ b/tests/native_tests/py3_only_tests.hy
@@ -10,3 +10,29 @@
   (try (raise ValueError :from NameError)
   (except [e [ValueError]]
     (assert (= (type (. e __cause__)) NameError)))))
+
+
+(defn test-kwonly []
+  "NATIVE: test keyword-only arguments"
+  ;; keyword-only with default works
+  (let [[kwonly-foo-default-false (fn [&kwonly [foo false]] foo)]]
+    (assert (= (apply kwonly-foo-default-false) false))
+    (assert (= (apply kwonly-foo-default-false [] {"foo" true}) true)))
+  ;; keyword-only without default ...
+  (let [[kwonly-foo-no-default (fn [&kwonly foo] foo)]
+        [attempt-to-omit-default (try
+                                  (kwonly-foo-no-default)
+                                  (catch [e [Exception]] e))]]
+    ;; works
+    (assert (= (apply kwonly-foo-no-default [] {"foo" "quux"}) "quux"))
+    ;; raises TypeError with appropriate message if not supplied
+    (assert (isinstance attempt-to-omit-default TypeError))
+    (assert (in "missing 1 required keyword-only argument: 'foo'"
+                (. attempt-to-omit-default args [0]))))
+  ;; keyword-only with other arg types works
+  (let [[function-of-various-args
+         (fn [a b &rest args &kwonly foo &kwargs kwargs]
+           (, a b args foo kwargs))]]
+    (assert (= (apply function-of-various-args
+                      [1 2 3 4] {"foo" 5 "bar" 6 "quux" 7})
+               (, 1 2 (, 3 4)  5 {"bar" 6 "quux" 7})))))