diff --git a/rules/salty-dog.yml b/rules/salty-dog.yml
index e51fb02..43dbe46 100644
--- a/rules/salty-dog.yml
+++ b/rules/salty-dog.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,43 @@
 name: salty-dog-meta
 definitions:
+  log-level:
+    type: string
+    enum:
+      - debug
+      - info
+      - warn
+      - error
+
+  config-logger:
+    type: object
+    required:
+      - level
+      - name
+    properties:
+      level:
+        $ref: "salty-dog-meta#/definitions/log-level"
+      name:
+        type: string
+      streams:
+        type: array
+        items:
+          oneOf:
+            - type: string
+            - type: object
+
+  config:
+    type: object
+    required:
+      - data
+    properties:
+      data:
+        type: object
+        required:
+          - logger
+        properties:
+          logger:
+            $ref: "salty-dog-meta#/definitions/config-logger"
+
   name-safe:
     type: string
     pattern: "[-a-z0-9]+"
@@ -27,12 +65,7 @@ definitions:
         minLength: 8
         maxLength: 255
       level:
-        type: string
-        enum:
-          - debug
-          - info
-          - warn
-          - error
+        $ref: "salty-dog-meta#/definitions/log-level"
       tags:
         type: array
         items:
diff --git a/src/app.ts b/src/app.ts
index d4d7306..c45a215 100644
--- a/src/app.ts
+++ b/src/app.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import { showCompletionScript } from 'yargs';
 import { loadConfig } from './config';
 import { CONFIG_ARGS_NAME, CONFIG_ARGS_PATH, MODE, parseArgs } from './config/args';
 import { YamlParser } from './parser/YamlParser';
-import { createRuleSelector, createRuleSources, loadRules, resolveRules } from './rule';
+import { createRuleSelector, createRuleSources, loadRules, resolveRules, validateConfig } from './rule';
 import { RuleVisitor } from './rule/RuleVisitor';
 import { readSource, writeSource } from './source';
 import { VERSION_INFO } from './version';
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ export async function main(argv: Array<string>): Promise<number> {
     },
   });
 
+  if (!validateConfig(ctx, config)) {
+    logger.error('config was not valid according to embedded schema');
+    return STATUS_ERROR;
+  }
+
   const ruleSelector = createRuleSelector(args);
   const ruleSources = createRuleSources(args);
 
diff --git a/src/rule/index.ts b/src/rule/index.ts
index 8435101..8c61952 100644
--- a/src/rule/index.ts
+++ b/src/rule/index.ts
@@ -222,3 +222,18 @@ export function validateRules(ctx: VisitorContext, root: any): boolean {
     return false;
   }
 }
+
+export function validateConfig(ctx: VisitorContext, root: any): boolean {
+  const { definitions, name } = ruleSchemaData as any;
+
+  const validCtx = new VisitorContext(ctx);
+  validCtx.addSchema(name, definitions);
+  const ruleSchema = validCtx.compile(definitions.config);
+
+  if (ruleSchema(root) === true) {
+    return true;
+  } else {
+    ctx.logger.error({ errors: ruleSchema.errors }, 'error validating rules');
+    return false;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/rule/TestLoadRule.ts b/test/rule/TestLoadRule.ts
index 01b9b6b..6380662 100644
--- a/test/rule/TestLoadRule.ts
+++ b/test/rule/TestLoadRule.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ const EXAMPLE_RULES = `{
     name: test,
     desc: test-rule,
     level: info,
-    tags: []
+    tags: [],
+    check: {}
   }]
 }`;