diff --git a/src/main/java/io/spokestack/spokestack/nlu/tensorflow/TensorflowNLU.java b/src/main/java/io/spokestack/spokestack/nlu/tensorflow/TensorflowNLU.java
index 13a11dc..c1f53a2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/spokestack/spokestack/nlu/tensorflow/TensorflowNLU.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/spokestack/spokestack/nlu/tensorflow/TensorflowNLU.java
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ public final class TensorflowNLU implements NLUService {
     private TensorflowModel nluModel = null;
     private TFNLUOutput outputParser = null;
     private int maxTokens;
+    private float confidenceThreshold;
+    private String fallbackIntent;
 
     private volatile boolean ready = false;
 
@@ -92,6 +94,8 @@ private TensorflowNLU(Builder builder) {
         this.loadThread.start();
         this.padTokenId = this.textEncoder.encodeSingle("[PAD]");
         this.sepTokenId = this.textEncoder.encodeSingle("[SEP]");
+        this.confidenceThreshold = builder.confidenceThreshold;
+        this.fallbackIntent = builder.fallbackIntent;
     }
 
     private void initParsers(Map<String, String> parserClasses) {
@@ -218,6 +222,15 @@ private NLUResult tfClassify(String utterance, NLUContext nluContext) {
         // interpret model outputs
         Tuple<Metadata.Intent, Float> prediction = outputParser.getIntent(
               this.nluModel.outputs(0));
+        float confidence = prediction.second();
+
+        if (confidence < this.confidenceThreshold) {
+            return new NLUResult.Builder(utterance)
+                  .withIntent(this.fallbackIntent)
+                  .withConfidence(confidence)
+                  .build();
+        }
+
         Metadata.Intent intent = prediction.first();
         nluContext.traceDebug("Intent: %s", intent.getName());
 
@@ -230,7 +243,7 @@ private NLUResult tfClassify(String utterance, NLUContext nluContext) {
 
         return new NLUResult.Builder(utterance)
               .withIntent(intent.getName())
-              .withConfidence(prediction.second())
+              .withConfidence(confidence)
               .withSlots(parsedSlots)
               .build();
     }
@@ -286,6 +299,8 @@ public static class Builder {
         private TensorflowModel.Loader modelLoader;
         private ThreadFactory threadFactory;
         private TextEncoder textEncoder;
+        private float confidenceThreshold;
+        private String fallbackIntent;
 
         /**
          * Creates a new builder instance.
@@ -344,6 +359,24 @@ public Builder setTextEncoder(TextEncoder encoder) {
             return this;
         }
 
+        /**
+         * Sets a confidence threshold for classification, below which the
+         * specified fallback intent will be returned.
+         *
+         * @param confidence the lowest confidence value that will be accepted
+         *                   as a valid classification.
+         * @param fallback   the name of the intent that will be returned if the
+         *                   model's confidence is below {@code confidence}.
+         * @return this
+         */
+        public Builder setConfidenceThreshold(float confidence,
+                                              String fallback) {
+
+            this.confidenceThreshold = confidence;
+            this.fallbackIntent = fallback;
+            return this;
+        }
+
         /**
          * Sets a configuration value.
          *
diff --git a/src/test/java/io/spokestack/spokestack/nlu/tensorflow/TensorflowNLUTest.java b/src/test/java/io/spokestack/spokestack/nlu/tensorflow/TensorflowNLUTest.java
index 6c941bf..d181a02 100644
--- a/src/test/java/io/spokestack/spokestack/nlu/tensorflow/TensorflowNLUTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/io/spokestack/spokestack/nlu/tensorflow/TensorflowNLUTest.java
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ public void classify() throws Exception {
 
         StringBuilder tooManyTokens = new StringBuilder();
         for (int i = 0; i <= env.nlu.getMaxTokens(); i++) {
-           tooManyTokens.append("a ");
+            tooManyTokens.append("a ");
         }
         utterance = tooManyTokens.toString();
         result = env.classify(utterance).get();
@@ -86,8 +86,9 @@ public void classify() throws Exception {
         assertTrue(result.getSlots().isEmpty());
 
         utterance = "this code is for test 1";
+        float conf = 0.75f;
         float[] intentResult =
-              buildIntentResult(2, env.metadata.getIntents().length);
+              buildIntentResult(2, env.metadata.getIntents().length, conf);
         float[] tagResult =
               new float[utterance.split(" ").length
                     * env.metadata.getTags().length];
@@ -104,7 +105,7 @@ public void classify() throws Exception {
 
         assertNull(result.getError());
         assertEquals("describe_test", result.getIntent());
-        assertEquals(10.0, result.getConfidence());
+        assertEquals(conf, result.getConfidence());
         for (String slotName : slots.keySet()) {
             assertEquals(slots.get(slotName), result.getSlots().get(slotName));
         }
@@ -117,9 +118,10 @@ public void classify() throws Exception {
         // (which is incorrect, but we're just testing the slot extraction
         // logic here)
         utterance = "this bad code is for test 1";
-        intentResult = buildIntentResult(2, env.metadata.getIntents().length);
+        intentResult =
+              buildIntentResult(2, env.metadata.getIntents().length, conf);
         tagResult = new float[utterance.split(" ").length
-                    * env.metadata.getTags().length];
+              * env.metadata.getTags().length];
         setTag(tagResult, env.metadata.getTags().length, 0, 1);
         setTag(tagResult, env.metadata.getTags().length, 2, 1);
         setTag(tagResult, env.metadata.getTags().length, 6, 3);
@@ -133,7 +135,7 @@ public void classify() throws Exception {
 
         assertNull(result.getError());
         assertEquals("describe_test", result.getIntent());
-        assertEquals(10.0, result.getConfidence());
+        assertEquals(conf, result.getConfidence());
         for (String slotName : slots.keySet()) {
             assertEquals(slots.get(slotName), result.getSlots().get(slotName));
         }
@@ -142,9 +144,37 @@ public void classify() throws Exception {
         assertTrue(result.getContext().isEmpty());
     }
 
-    private float[] buildIntentResult(int index, int numIntents) {
+    @Test
+    public void testConfidenceThreshold() throws Exception {
+        TestEnv env = new TestEnv(testConfig());
+        env.nluBuilder.setConfidenceThreshold(0.5f, "fallback");
+
+        String utterance = "how far is it to the moon?";
+        float conf = 0.3f;
+        float[] intentResult =
+              buildIntentResult(1, env.metadata.getIntents().length, conf);
+
+        // include some tags in the result to make sure they're ignored
+        float[] tagResult =
+              new float[utterance.split(" ").length
+                    * env.metadata.getTags().length];
+        setTag(tagResult, env.metadata.getTags().length, 0, 1);
+        setTag(tagResult, env.metadata.getTags().length, 1, 2);
+        env.testModel.setOutputs(intentResult, tagResult);
+        NLUResult result = env.classify(utterance).get();
+
+        assertNull(result.getError());
+        assertEquals("fallback", result.getIntent());
+        assertEquals(conf, result.getConfidence());
+        assertTrue(result.getSlots().isEmpty());
+        assertEquals(utterance, result.getUtterance());
+        assertTrue(result.getContext().isEmpty());
+    }
+
+    private float[] buildIntentResult(int index, int numIntents,
+                                      float confidence) {
         float[] result = new float[numIntents];
-        result[index] = 10;
+        result[index] = confidence;
         return result;
     }