diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f9663c923..9882b7675 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 output
-schema/validate
+schema/validate/validate
 version.md
diff --git a/schema/Makefile b/schema/Makefile
index fe676ae66..3cb1c6925 100644
--- a/schema/Makefile
+++ b/schema/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 GOOD_TESTS = $(wildcard test/good/*.json)
 BAD_TESTS = $(wildcard test/bad/*.json)
+VALIDATE = validate/validate
 
 default: validate
 
@@ -14,9 +15,8 @@ fmt:
 	find . -name '*.json' -exec bash -c 'jq --indent 4 -M . {} > xx && mv xx {} || echo "skipping invalid {}"' \;
 
 .PHONY: validate
-validate: validate.go
-	GO111MODULE=auto go get github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonschema
-	GO111MODULE=auto go build ./validate.go
+validate:
+	cd validate && go build
 
 test: validate $(TESTS)
 	for TYPE in $$(ls test); \
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ test: validate $(TESTS)
 		for FILE in $$(ls "test/$${TYPE}/good"); \
 		do \
 			echo "  testing test/$${TYPE}/good/$${FILE}"; \
-			if ./validate "$${TYPE}-schema.json" "test/$${TYPE}/good/$${FILE}" ; \
+			if $(VALIDATE) "$${TYPE}-schema.json" "test/$${TYPE}/good/$${FILE}" ; \
 			then \
 				echo "    received expected validation success" ; \
 			else \
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ test: validate $(TESTS)
 		for FILE in $$(ls "test/$${TYPE}/bad"); \
 		do \
 			echo "  testing test/$${TYPE}/bad/$${FILE}"; \
-			if ./validate "$${TYPE}-schema.json" "test/$${TYPE}/bad/$${FILE}" ; \
+			if $(VALIDATE) "$${TYPE}-schema.json" "test/$${TYPE}/bad/$${FILE}" ; \
 			then \
 				echo "    received unexpected validation success" ; \
 				exit 1; \
@@ -46,5 +46,6 @@ test: validate $(TESTS)
 		done; \
 	done
 
+.PHONY: clean
 clean:
-	rm -f validate
+	rm -f validate/validate
diff --git a/schema/README.md b/schema/README.md
index f8f7fb739..d1a721824 100644
--- a/schema/README.md
+++ b/schema/README.md
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ The layout of the files is as follows:
 * [defs.json](defs.json) - definitions for general types
 * [defs-linux.json](defs-linux.json) - definitions for Linux-specific types
 * [defs-windows.json](defs-windows.json) - definitions for Windows-specific types
-* [validate.go](validate.go) - validation utility source code
+* [validate](validate) - validation utility source code directory
 
 
 ## Utility
@@ -22,13 +22,6 @@ The layout of the files is as follows:
 There is also included a simple utility for facilitating validation.
 To build it:
 
-```bash
-go get github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonschema
-go build ./validate.go
-```
-
-Or you can just use make command to create the utility:
-
 ```bash
 make validate
 ```
@@ -36,11 +29,11 @@ make validate
 Then use it like:
 
 ```bash
-./validate config-schema.json <yourpath>/config.json
+./validate/validate config-schema.json <yourpath>/config.json
 ```
 
 Or like:
 
 ```bash
-./validate https://raw.githubusercontent.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/<runtime-spec-version>/schema/config-schema.json <yourpath>/config.json
+./validate/validate https://raw.githubusercontent.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/<runtime-spec-version>/schema/config-schema.json <yourpath>/config.json
 ```
diff --git a/schema/validate/go.mod b/schema/validate/go.mod
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..539e5f0f5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/schema/validate/go.mod
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+module github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/schema/validate
+
+go 1.21.6
+
+require github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonschema v1.2.0
+
+require (
+	github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonpointer v0.0.0-20180127040702-4e3ac2762d5f // indirect
+	github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonreference v0.0.0-20180127040603-bd5ef7bd5415 // indirect
+)
diff --git a/schema/validate/go.sum b/schema/validate/go.sum
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ebda4aba2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/schema/validate/go.sum
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0 h1:ZDRjVQ15GmhC3fiQ8ni8+OwkZQO4DARzQgrnXU1Liz8=
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
+github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
+github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.3.0 h1:TivCn/peBQ7UY8ooIcPgZFpTNSz0Q2U6UrFlUfqbe0Q=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.3.0/go.mod h1:M5WIy9Dh21IEIfnGCwXGc5bZfKNJtfHm1UVUgZn+9EI=
+github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonpointer v0.0.0-20180127040702-4e3ac2762d5f h1:J9EGpcZtP0E/raorCMxlFGSTBrsSlaDGf3jU/qvAE2c=
+github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonpointer v0.0.0-20180127040702-4e3ac2762d5f/go.mod h1:N2zxlSyiKSe5eX1tZViRH5QA0qijqEDrYZiPEAiq3wU=
+github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonreference v0.0.0-20180127040603-bd5ef7bd5415 h1:EzJWgHovont7NscjpAxXsDA8S8BMYve8Y5+7cuRE7R0=
+github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonreference v0.0.0-20180127040603-bd5ef7bd5415/go.mod h1:GwrjFmJcFw6At/Gs6z4yjiIwzuJ1/+UwLxMQDVQXShQ=
+github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonschema v1.2.0 h1:LhYJRs+L4fBtjZUfuSZIKGeVu0QRy8e5Xi7D17UxZ74=
+github.com/xeipuuv/gojsonschema v1.2.0/go.mod h1:anYRn/JVcOK2ZgGU+IjEV4nwlhoK5sQluxsYJ78Id3Y=
diff --git a/schema/validate.go b/schema/validate/validate.go
similarity index 100%
rename from schema/validate.go
rename to schema/validate/validate.go