diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 89868b47..c12905f2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Node
         uses: actions/setup-node@v3
         with:
-          node-version: 14.x
+          node-version: 16.x
           cache: yarn
       - name: Install Dependencies
         run: yarn install --frozen-lockfile --ignore-engines
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v3
       - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
         with:
-          node-version: 14.x
+          node-version: 16.x
           cache: yarn
       - name: Install Dependencies
         run: yarn install --no-lockfile --ignore-engines
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Install Node
         uses: actions/setup-node@v3
         with:
-          node-version: 14.x
+          node-version: 16.x
           cache: yarn
       - name: Install Dependencies
         run: yarn install --frozen-lockfile --ignore-engines
diff --git a/addon/utils/utils.js b/addon/utils/utils.js
index e600308a..1989a6fc 100644
--- a/addon/utils/utils.js
+++ b/addon/utils/utils.js
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import { isHTMLSafe } from '@ember/template';
 import EmberObject from '@ember/object';
 import { typeOf } from '@ember/utils';
 import { A as emberArray } from '@ember/array';
+
+// ember-data feature detection
 import {
   macroCondition,
   dependencySatisfies,
@@ -17,6 +19,19 @@ if (macroCondition(dependencySatisfies('ember-data', '*'))) {
   Model = importSync('@ember-data/model').default;
 }
 
+export function isDsModel(o) {
+  return !!(Model && o && o instanceof Model);
+}
+
+export function isDSManyArray(o) {
+  return !!(
+    DS &&
+    o &&
+    (o instanceof DS.PromiseManyArray || o instanceof DS.ManyArray)
+  );
+}
+
+// ember internals
 export { getDependentKeys, isDescriptor } from '../-private/ember-internals';
 
 export function unwrapString(s) {
@@ -45,18 +60,6 @@ export function isPromise(p) {
   return !!(p && canInvoke(p, 'then'));
 }
 
-export function isDsModel(o) {
-  return !!(Model && o && o instanceof Model);
-}
-
-export function isDSManyArray(o) {
-  return !!(
-    DS &&
-    o &&
-    (o instanceof DS.PromiseManyArray || o instanceof DS.ManyArray)
-  );
-}
-
 export function isEmberObject(o) {
   return !!(o && o instanceof EmberObject);
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration/validations/model-relationships-test.js b/tests/integration/validations/model-relationships-test.js
index bbd81495..968534ba 100644
--- a/tests/integration/validations/model-relationships-test.js
+++ b/tests/integration/validations/model-relationships-test.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import ArrayProxy from '@ember/array/proxy';
 import EmberObject from '@ember/object';
 import { isNone } from '@ember/utils';
 import { A as emberArray } from '@ember/array';
-import DS from 'ember-data';
+import Model, { belongsTo, hasMany } from '@ember-data/model';
 import setupObject from '../../helpers/setup-object';
 import DefaultMessages from 'dummy/validators/messages';
 import BelongsToValidator from 'ember-cp-validations/validators/belongs-to';
@@ -508,16 +508,22 @@ module('Integration | Validations | Model Relationships', function (hooks) {
     assert.true(user.get('validations.attrs.fullName.isValid'));
   });
 
-  test('presence on empty DS.PromiseObject', function (assert) {
+  test('presence on empty belongsTo - sync', function (assert) {
     this.owner.register('validator:presence', PresenceValidator);
+    this.owner.register(
+      'model:user',
+      Model.extend(
+        buildValidations({
+          friend: validator('presence', true),
+        }),
+        {
+          friend: belongsTo('user', { async: false, inverse: null }),
+        }
+      )
+    );
 
-    let Validations = buildValidations({
-      friend: validator('presence', true),
-    });
-
-    let user = setupObject(this, EmberObject.extend(Validations), {
-      friend: DS.PromiseObject.create(),
-    });
+    const store = this.owner.lookup('service:store');
+    const user = store.createRecord('user');
 
     let { validations, model } = user.get('validations').validateSync();
 
@@ -533,16 +539,53 @@ module('Integration | Validations | Model Relationships', function (hooks) {
     assert.strictEqual(friend.get('message'), "This field can't be blank");
   });
 
-  test('presence on empty DS.PromiseArray', function (assert) {
+  test('presence on empty belongsTo - async', async function (assert) {
     this.owner.register('validator:presence', PresenceValidator);
+    this.owner.register(
+      'model:user',
+      Model.extend(
+        buildValidations({
+          friend: validator('presence', true),
+        }),
+        {
+          friend: belongsTo('user', { async: true, inverse: null }),
+        }
+      )
+    );
 
-    let Validations = buildValidations({
-      friends: validator('presence', true),
-    });
+    const store = this.owner.lookup('service:store');
+    const user = store.createRecord('user');
 
-    let user = setupObject(this, EmberObject.extend(Validations), {
-      friends: DS.PromiseArray.create(),
-    });
+    let { validations, model } = await user.get('validations').validate();
+
+    assert.strictEqual(model, user, 'expected model to be the correct model');
+    assert.deepEqual(
+      validations.get('content').getEach('attribute').sort(),
+      ['friend'].sort()
+    );
+
+    let friend = validations.get('content').findBy('attribute', 'friend');
+
+    assert.false(friend.get('isValid'));
+    assert.strictEqual(friend.get('message'), "This field can't be blank");
+  });
+
+  test('presence on empty hasMany - sync', function (assert) {
+    this.owner.register('validator:presence', PresenceValidator);
+    this.owner.register(
+      'model:user',
+      Model.extend(
+        buildValidations({
+          friends: validator('presence', true),
+        }),
+        {
+          friends: hasMany('user', { async: false, inverse: null }),
+        }
+      )
+    );
+
+    const store = this.owner.lookup('service:store');
+    const user = store.createRecord('user');
 
     let { validations, model } = user.get('validations').validateSync();
 
@@ -558,6 +601,37 @@ module('Integration | Validations | Model Relationships', function (hooks) {
     assert.strictEqual(friends.get('message'), "This field can't be blank");
   });
 
+  test('presence on empty hasMany - async', async function (assert) {
+    this.owner.register('validator:presence', PresenceValidator);
+    this.owner.register(
+      'model:user',
+      Model.extend(
+        buildValidations({
+          friends: validator('presence', true),
+        }),
+        {
+          friends: hasMany('user', { async: true, inverse: null }),
+        }
+      )
+    );
+
+    const store = this.owner.lookup('service:store');
+    const user = store.createRecord('user');
+
+    let { validations, model } = await user.get('validations').validate();
+
+    assert.strictEqual(model, user, 'expected model to be the correct model');
+    assert.deepEqual(
+      validations.get('content').getEach('attribute').sort(),
+      ['friends'].sort()
+    );
+
+    let friends = validations.get('content').findBy('attribute', 'friends');
+
+    assert.false(friends.get('isValid'));
+    assert.strictEqual(friends.get('message'), "This field can't be blank");
+  });
+
   test('debounce should work across nested HasMany relationships', function (assert) {
     this.owner.register('validator:presence', PresenceValidator);
     this.owner.register('validator:has-many', HasManyValidator);