diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6ffc7e9..6c9c2d3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ It is strongly recommended to generate the random key with the following functio
 Save the key in a file using `hex.EncodeToString()` and restrict access to that file.
 
 ``` Go
-var key []byte = securecookie.GenerateRandomKey()
+var key []byte = securecookie.MustGenerateRandomKey()
 ```
 
 To mitigate the risk of an attacker getting the saved key, you might store a second
@@ -67,7 +67,8 @@ difficult.
 
 ### Instantiating a cookie object
 
-To return an error if an argument is invalid, use `securecookie.New()`.
+A secure cookie is instantiated with the `New` function. It returns an error if an
+argument is invalid.
 
 ``` Go
 obj, err := securecookie.New("session", key, securecookie.Params{
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index c428f26..5482045 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 module github.com/chmike/securecookie
 
 require github.com/gorilla/securecookie v1.1.1
+
+go 1.13
diff --git a/securecookie.go b/securecookie.go
index 1114769..1017ae3 100644
--- a/securecookie.go
+++ b/securecookie.go
@@ -104,6 +104,16 @@ func GenerateRandomKey() ([]byte, error) {
 	return key, nil
 }
 
+// MustGenerateRandomKey returns a random key of KeyLen bytes.
+// It calls GenerateRandomKey and panics if it returns an error.
+func MustGenerateRandomKey() []byte {
+	key, err := GenerateRandomKey()
+	if err != nil {
+		panic("securecookie: generate random key: " + err.Error())
+	}
+	return key
+}
+
 // Params holds the optional cookie parameters.
 type Params struct {
 	Path     string // Optional : URL path to which the cookie will be returned
diff --git a/securecookie_test.go b/securecookie_test.go
index 8339ddc..c6a5b90 100644
--- a/securecookie_test.go
+++ b/securecookie_test.go
@@ -27,6 +27,21 @@ func TestGenerateKeyErrors(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestMustGenerateRandomKey(t *testing.T) {
+	key := MustGenerateRandomKey()
+	if len(key) != KeyLen {
+		t.Errorf("len of key is %d, expected %d", len(key), KeyLen)
+	}
+	forceError = 1
+	defer func() { forceError = 0 }()
+	defer func() {
+		if r := recover(); r == nil {
+			t.Errorf("expected panic")
+		}
+	}()
+	MustGenerateRandomKey()
+}
+
 func TestCheckName(t *testing.T) {
 	if err := checkName("toto"); err != nil {
 		t.Errorf("unexpected error: %s", err)