diff --git a/docs/ngcpcfg.txt b/docs/ngcpcfg.txt
index a22b53b6..dce1f70c 100644
--- a/docs/ngcpcfg.txt
+++ b/docs/ngcpcfg.txt
@@ -198,6 +198,10 @@ Note: This option is available in the High Availability setup only.
 
 Ignore schema validation results for YAML files (syntax check is still performed).
 
+  **--validate** <action> [<further_options>]::
+
+Force schema validation for YAML files even if validation is disabled in config.
+
   **--version**::
 
 Display ngcpcfg version and exit.
diff --git a/sbin/ngcpcfg b/sbin/ngcpcfg
index 9b336987..5a455115 100755
--- a/sbin/ngcpcfg
+++ b/sbin/ngcpcfg
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ case ${1:-} in
   --no-db-sync)    export NO_DB_SYNC=1 ; shift ; "$0" "$@" ;;
   --no-validate)   export NO_VALIDATE=1; shift ; "$0" "$@" ;;
   --no-action-failure) export NO_ACTION_FAILURE=1; shift ; "$0" "$@" ;;
+  --validate)   export VALIDATE=1; shift ; "$0" "$@" ;;
   -h|--help|help)       usage   ; exit 0;;
   -v|--version|version) version ; exit 0;;
   *)          usage 1; exit 1;;
diff --git a/scripts/check b/scripts/check
index b6b9e9b2..2bf8e5d7 100755
--- a/scripts/check
+++ b/scripts/check
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ fi
 check_branch
 
 check_configs
-if "${VALIDATE_SCHEMA:-false}" ; then
+if "${VALIDATE_SCHEMA:-false}" || [ "${VALIDATE:-0}" = "1" ] ; then
   validate_config
 fi
 check_configs_conflicts