diff --git a/src/pytblis/einsum_impl.py b/src/pytblis/einsum_impl.py
index 27f5eaf..abf4804 100644
--- a/src/pytblis/einsum_impl.py
+++ b/src/pytblis/einsum_impl.py
@@ -55,8 +55,12 @@ def einsum(*operands, out=None, optimize=True, complex_real_contractions=True, *
         'A' means it should be 'F' if the inputs are all 'F', 'C' otherwise.
         'K' is ignored, for now.
         Default is 'C'.
-    optimize : {False, True, 'greedy', 'optimal'}, default True
+    optimize : {bool, list, tuple, 'greedy', 'optimal'}, default True
         Controls the optimization strategy used to compute the contraction.
+        If a tuple is provided, the second argument is assumed to be
+        the maximum intermediate size created.
+        Also accepts an explicit contraction list from the ``np.einsum_path``
+        function. See ``np.einsum_path`` for more details.
     complex_real_contractions : bool, default True
         If True, handle contractions between complex and real tensors by performing
         separate contractions for the real and imaginary parts of the complex tensor.
@@ -69,8 +73,6 @@ def einsum(*operands, out=None, optimize=True, complex_real_contractions=True, *
         The calculation based on the Einstein summation convention.
     """
     specified_out = out is not None
-    if optimize not in (False, True, "greedy", "optimal"):
-        raise ValueError("optimize must be one of False, True, 'greedy', or 'optimal'")
 
     # Check the kwargs to avoid a more cryptic error later, without having to
     # repeat default values here