diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index b80da080..7e31b39c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ __pycache__/
 # protocol buffers generated headers
 include/osmformat.pb.h
 include/vector_tile.pb.h
+src/config_schema.h
 
 # downloaded data
 coastline
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c67b73ad..0143a2d4 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -92,8 +92,15 @@ else()
 	set(THREAD_LIB pthread)
 endif()
 
+file(READ "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/resources/config-schema.json" TILEMAKER_CONFIG_SCHEMA_JSON)
+configure_file(
+	cmake/config_schema.h.in
+	"${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/config_schema.h"
+	@ONLY)
+
 file(GLOB tilemaker_src_files
 	src/attribute_store.cpp
+	src/config_validator.cpp
 	src/coordinates.cpp
 	src/coordinates_geom.cpp
 	src/external/streamvbyte_decode.c
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index b8043eca..ec6fb477 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ COPY cmake ./cmake
 COPY src ./src
 COPY include ./include
 COPY server ./server
+COPY resources/config-schema.json ./resources/config-schema.json
 
 RUN mkdir build && \
     cd build && \
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b08088f2..17f35b7f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ all: tilemaker server
 
 tilemaker: \
 	src/attribute_store.o \
+	src/config_validator.o \
 	src/coordinates_geom.o \
 	src/coordinates.o \
 	src/external/streamvbyte_decode.o \
@@ -140,6 +141,7 @@ tilemaker: \
 test: \
 	test_append_vector \
 	test_attribute_store \
+	test_config_validator \
 	test_deque_map \
 	test_helpers \
 	test_options_parser \
@@ -164,6 +166,19 @@ test_attribute_store: \
 	test/attribute_store.test.o
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o test.attribute_store $^ $(INC) $(LIB) $(LDFLAGS) && ./test.attribute_store
 
+test_config_validator: \
+	src/config_validator.o \
+	test/config_validator.test.o
+	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o test.config_validator $^ $(INC) $(LIB) $(LDFLAGS) && ./test.config_validator
+
+src/config_schema.h: resources/config-schema.json
+	printf '#ifndef _CONFIG_SCHEMA_H\n#define _CONFIG_SCHEMA_H\n\nstatic const char* CONFIG_SCHEMA = R"TMCONFIGSCHEMA(\n' > $@
+	cat $< >> $@
+	printf '\n)TMCONFIGSCHEMA";\n\n#endif //_CONFIG_SCHEMA_H\n' >> $@
+
+src/config_validator.o: src/config_validator.cpp include/config_validator.h src/config_schema.h
+	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o $@ -c $< $(INC)
+
 test_deque_map: \
 	test/deque_map.test.o
 	$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o test.deque_map $^ $(INC) $(LIB) $(LDFLAGS) && ./test.deque_map
@@ -268,6 +283,6 @@ install:
 	@install docs/man/tilemaker.1 ${DESTDIR}${MANPREFIX}/man1/ || true
 
 clean:
-	rm -f tilemaker tilemaker-server src/*.o src/external/*.o src/external/libdeflate/lib/*.o src/external/libdeflate/lib/*/*.o include/*.o include/*.pb.h server/*.o test/*.o
+	rm -f tilemaker tilemaker-server src/*.o src/external/*.o src/external/libdeflate/lib/*.o src/external/libdeflate/lib/*/*.o include/*.o include/*.pb.h server/*.o test/*.o src/config_schema.h
 
 .PHONY: install
diff --git a/cmake/config_schema.h.in b/cmake/config_schema.h.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5baa046c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmake/config_schema.h.in
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+#ifndef _CONFIG_SCHEMA_H
+#define _CONFIG_SCHEMA_H
+
+static const char* CONFIG_SCHEMA = R"TMCONFIGSCHEMA(
+@TILEMAKER_CONFIG_SCHEMA_JSON@
+)TMCONFIGSCHEMA";
+
+#endif //_CONFIG_SCHEMA_H
diff --git a/include/config_validator.h b/include/config_validator.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7cdda2a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/config_validator.h
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#ifndef _CONFIG_VALIDATOR_H
+#define _CONFIG_VALIDATOR_H
+
+#include <string>
+
+#include "rapidjson/document.h"
+
+bool validateConfigJson(const rapidjson::Document &jsonConfig, std::string &error);
+
+#endif //_CONFIG_VALIDATOR_H
diff --git a/resources/config-schema.json b/resources/config-schema.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..34a9d1c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resources/config-schema.json
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+{
+	"type": "object",
+	"required": ["settings", "layers"],
+	"properties": {
+		"settings": {
+			"type": "object",
+			"required": ["basezoom", "minzoom", "maxzoom", "include_ids", "compress", "name", "version", "description"],
+			"properties": {
+				"basezoom": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+				"minzoom": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+				"maxzoom": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+				"include_ids": { "type": "boolean" },
+				"compress": { "type": "string", "enum": ["gzip", "deflate", "none"] },
+				"name": { "type": "string" },
+				"version": { "type": "string" },
+				"description": { "type": "string" },
+				"high_resolution": { "type": "boolean" },
+				"combine_below": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+				"mvt_version": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 1 },
+				"bounding_box": {
+					"type": "array",
+					"minItems": 4,
+					"maxItems": 4,
+					"items": { "type": "number" }
+				},
+				"default_view": {
+					"type": "array",
+					"minItems": 3,
+					"maxItems": 3,
+					"items": [
+						{ "type": "number" },
+						{ "type": "number" },
+						{ "type": "integer" }
+					]
+				},
+				"metadata": {
+					"type": "object",
+					"properties": {
+						"attribution": { "type": "string" }
+					},
+					"additionalProperties": true
+				},
+				"filemetadata": { "type": "object" }
+			},
+			"additionalProperties": true
+		},
+		"layers": {
+			"type": "object",
+			"additionalProperties": {
+				"type": "object",
+				"required": ["minzoom", "maxzoom"],
+				"properties": {
+					"minzoom": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+					"maxzoom": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+					"write_to": { "type": "string" },
+					"simplify_below": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+					"simplify_level": { "type": "number" },
+					"simplify_length": { "type": "number" },
+					"simplify_ratio": { "type": "number" },
+					"filter_below": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+					"filter_area": { "type": "number" },
+					"feature_limit": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+					"feature_limit_below": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+					"combine_points": { "type": "boolean" },
+					"combine_lines_below": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+					"combine_polygons_below": { "type": "integer", "minimum": 0 },
+					"z_order_ascending": { "type": "boolean" },
+					"simplify_algorithm": { "type": "string" },
+					"source": { "type": "string" },
+					"source_columns": {
+						"oneOf": [
+							{
+								"type": "boolean",
+								"enum": [true]
+							},
+							{
+								"type": "array",
+								"items": { "type": "string" }
+							}
+						]
+					},
+					"index": { "type": "boolean" },
+					"index_column": { "type": "string" }
+				},
+				"additionalProperties": true
+			}
+		}
+	},
+	"additionalProperties": true
+}
diff --git a/src/config_validator.cpp b/src/config_validator.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..25b20bd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/config_validator.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,145 @@
+#include "config_validator.h"
+
+#include <config_schema.h>
+
+#include <cstring>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "rapidjson/pointer.h"
+#include "rapidjson/schema.h"
+#include "rapidjson/stringbuffer.h"
+#include "rapidjson/writer.h"
+
+namespace {
+std::string pointerString(const rapidjson::Pointer &pointer) {
+	rapidjson::StringBuffer buffer;
+	pointer.StringifyUriFragment(buffer);
+	return buffer.GetString();
+}
+
+std::string valueToString(const rapidjson::Value &value) {
+	if (value.IsString()) return std::string("\"") + value.GetString() + "\"";
+
+	rapidjson::StringBuffer buffer;
+	rapidjson::Writer<rapidjson::StringBuffer> writer(buffer);
+	value.Accept(writer);
+	return buffer.GetString();
+}
+
+std::string joinValues(const std::vector<std::string> &values) {
+	std::string joined;
+	for (std::size_t i = 0; i < values.size(); i++) {
+		if (i > 0) joined += ", ";
+		joined += values[i];
+	}
+	return joined;
+}
+
+std::string valueTypeName(const rapidjson::Value &value) {
+	if (value.IsNull()) return "null";
+	if (value.IsBool()) return "boolean";
+	if (value.IsObject()) return "object";
+	if (value.IsArray()) return "array";
+	if (value.IsString()) return "string";
+	if (value.IsNumber()) return "number";
+	return "unknown";
+}
+
+std::string requiredError(const rapidjson::Document &schemaJson,
+                          const rapidjson::Document &jsonConfig,
+                          const rapidjson::Pointer &schemaPointer,
+                          const rapidjson::Pointer &documentPointer,
+                          const std::string &documentPointerString) {
+	const rapidjson::Value* schemaNode = schemaPointer.Get(schemaJson);
+	const rapidjson::Value* documentNode = documentPointer.Get(jsonConfig);
+	if (!schemaNode || !schemaNode->IsObject() || !schemaNode->HasMember("required") ||
+	    !(*schemaNode)["required"].IsArray() || !documentNode || !documentNode->IsObject()) {
+		return "";
+	}
+
+	std::vector<std::string> missing;
+	for (rapidjson::Value::ConstValueIterator it = (*schemaNode)["required"].Begin(); it != (*schemaNode)["required"].End(); ++it) {
+		if (it->IsString() && !documentNode->HasMember(it->GetString())) {
+			missing.push_back(std::string("\"") + it->GetString() + "\"");
+		}
+	}
+	if (missing.empty()) return "";
+
+	return "missing required " + std::string(missing.size() == 1 ? "field " : "fields ") +
+	       joinValues(missing) + " at " + documentPointerString;
+}
+
+std::string typeError(const rapidjson::Document &schemaJson,
+                      const rapidjson::Document &jsonConfig,
+                      const rapidjson::Pointer &schemaPointer,
+                      const rapidjson::Pointer &documentPointer,
+                      const std::string &documentPointerString) {
+	const rapidjson::Value* schemaNode = schemaPointer.Get(schemaJson);
+	const rapidjson::Value* documentNode = documentPointer.Get(jsonConfig);
+	if (!schemaNode || !schemaNode->IsObject() || !schemaNode->HasMember("type") || !documentNode) {
+		return "";
+	}
+
+	return "invalid type at " + documentPointerString + ": expected " +
+	       valueToString((*schemaNode)["type"]) + ", got " + valueTypeName(*documentNode);
+}
+
+std::string enumError(const rapidjson::Document &schemaJson,
+                      const rapidjson::Document &jsonConfig,
+                      const rapidjson::Pointer &schemaPointer,
+                      const rapidjson::Pointer &documentPointer,
+                      const std::string &documentPointerString) {
+	const rapidjson::Value* schemaNode = schemaPointer.Get(schemaJson);
+	const rapidjson::Value* documentNode = documentPointer.Get(jsonConfig);
+	if (!schemaNode || !schemaNode->IsObject() || !schemaNode->HasMember("enum") ||
+	    !(*schemaNode)["enum"].IsArray() || !documentNode) {
+		return "";
+	}
+
+	std::vector<std::string> allowed;
+	for (rapidjson::Value::ConstValueIterator it = (*schemaNode)["enum"].Begin(); it != (*schemaNode)["enum"].End(); ++it) {
+		allowed.push_back(valueToString(*it));
+	}
+
+	return "invalid value at " + documentPointerString + ": expected one of " +
+	       joinValues(allowed) + ", got " + valueToString(*documentNode);
+}
+} // namespace
+
+bool validateConfigJson(const rapidjson::Document &jsonConfig, std::string &error) {
+	rapidjson::Document schemaJson;
+	schemaJson.Parse(CONFIG_SCHEMA);
+	if (schemaJson.HasParseError()) {
+		error = "Internal config schema is invalid.";
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	rapidjson::SchemaDocument schema(schemaJson);
+	rapidjson::SchemaValidator validator(schema);
+	if (jsonConfig.Accept(validator)) {
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	std::string documentPointer = pointerString(validator.GetInvalidDocumentPointer());
+	if (documentPointer.empty()) documentPointer = "#";
+	std::string schemaPointer = pointerString(validator.GetInvalidSchemaPointer());
+	if (schemaPointer.empty()) schemaPointer = "#";
+
+	const char* keyword = validator.GetInvalidSchemaKeyword();
+	if (std::strcmp(keyword, "required") == 0) {
+		error = requiredError(schemaJson, jsonConfig, validator.GetInvalidSchemaPointer(),
+		                      validator.GetInvalidDocumentPointer(), documentPointer);
+	} else if (std::strcmp(keyword, "type") == 0) {
+		error = typeError(schemaJson, jsonConfig, validator.GetInvalidSchemaPointer(),
+		                  validator.GetInvalidDocumentPointer(), documentPointer);
+	} else if (std::strcmp(keyword, "enum") == 0) {
+		error = enumError(schemaJson, jsonConfig, validator.GetInvalidSchemaPointer(),
+		                  validator.GetInvalidDocumentPointer(), documentPointer);
+	}
+
+	if (error.empty()) {
+		error = "schema validation failed at " + documentPointer + ": " +
+		        keyword + " (" + schemaPointer + ")";
+	}
+	return false;
+}
diff --git a/src/tilemaker.cpp b/src/tilemaker.cpp
index 6cbd920a..ccf3bf91 100644
--- a/src/tilemaker.cpp
+++ b/src/tilemaker.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include "rapidjson/stringbuffer.h"
 #include "rapidjson/filereadstream.h"
 #include "rapidjson/filewritestream.h"
+#include "rapidjson/error/en.h"
 
 #ifndef _MSC_VER
 #include <sys/resource.h>
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@
 #include "way_stores.h"
 
 // Tilemaker code
+#include "config_validator.h"
 #include "helpers.h"
 #include "coordinates.h"
 #include "coordinates_geom.h"
@@ -173,8 +175,18 @@ int main(const int argc, const char* argv[]) {
 		char readBuffer[65536];
 		rapidjson::FileReadStream is(fp, readBuffer, sizeof(readBuffer));
 		jsonConfig.ParseStream(is);
-		if (jsonConfig.HasParseError()) { cerr << "Invalid JSON file." << endl; return -1; }
 		fclose(fp);
+		if (jsonConfig.HasParseError()) {
+			cerr << "Invalid JSON file: " << rapidjson::GetParseError_En(jsonConfig.GetParseError())
+			     << " at offset " << jsonConfig.GetErrorOffset() << "." << endl;
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		string jsonError;
+		if (!validateConfigJson(jsonConfig, jsonError)) {
+			cerr << "Invalid JSON file: " << jsonError << "." << endl;
+			return -1;
+		}
 
 		config.readConfig(jsonConfig, hasClippingBox, clippingBox);
 	} catch (...) {
diff --git a/test/config_validator.test.cpp b/test/config_validator.test.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6bf2116f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config_validator.test.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,183 @@
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <string>
+#include <vector>
+
+#include "config_validator.h"
+#include "external/minunit.h"
+#include "rapidjson/filereadstream.h"
+
+bool validateString(const char* json, std::string &error) {
+	rapidjson::Document doc;
+	doc.Parse(json);
+	if (doc.HasParseError()) {
+		error = "parse error";
+		return false;
+	}
+	return validateConfigJson(doc, error);
+}
+
+bool validateFile(const char* filename, std::string &error) {
+	FILE* fp = fopen(filename, "r");
+	if (!fp) {
+		error = "could not open file";
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	char readBuffer[65536];
+	rapidjson::FileReadStream is(fp, readBuffer, sizeof(readBuffer));
+	rapidjson::Document doc;
+	doc.ParseStream(is);
+	fclose(fp);
+	if (doc.HasParseError()) {
+		error = "parse error";
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	return validateConfigJson(doc, error);
+}
+
+MU_TEST(test_valid_minimal_config) {
+	std::string error;
+	mu_check(validateString(R"({
+		"settings": {
+			"basezoom": 14,
+			"minzoom": 0,
+			"maxzoom": 14,
+			"include_ids": false,
+			"compress": "gzip",
+			"name": "Test",
+			"version": "1",
+			"description": "Test config"
+		},
+		"layers": {
+			"water": {
+				"minzoom": 0,
+				"maxzoom": 14
+			}
+		}
+	})", error));
+	mu_check(error.empty());
+}
+
+MU_TEST(test_missing_required_setting) {
+	std::string error;
+	mu_check(!validateString(R"({
+		"settings": {
+			"basezoom": 14,
+			"minzoom": 0,
+			"maxzoom": 14,
+			"compress": "gzip",
+			"name": "Test",
+			"version": "1",
+			"description": "Test config"
+		},
+		"layers": {
+			"water": {
+				"minzoom": 0,
+				"maxzoom": 14
+			}
+		}
+	})", error));
+	mu_check(error.find("required") != std::string::npos);
+	mu_check(error.find("\"include_ids\"") != std::string::npos);
+}
+
+MU_TEST(test_missing_multiple_required_settings) {
+	std::string error;
+	mu_check(!validateString(R"({
+		"settings": {
+			"basezoom": 14,
+			"minzoom": 0,
+			"maxzoom": 14,
+			"include_ids": true
+		},
+		"layers": {
+			"transportation": {
+				"minzoom": 12,
+				"maxzoom": 14
+			}
+		}
+	})", error));
+	mu_check(error.find("\"compress\"") != std::string::npos);
+	mu_check(error.find("\"name\"") != std::string::npos);
+	mu_check(error.find("\"version\"") != std::string::npos);
+	mu_check(error.find("\"description\"") != std::string::npos);
+}
+
+MU_TEST(test_invalid_layer_type) {
+	std::string error;
+	mu_check(!validateString(R"({
+		"settings": {
+			"basezoom": 14,
+			"minzoom": 0,
+			"maxzoom": 14,
+			"include_ids": false,
+			"compress": "gzip",
+			"name": "Test",
+			"version": "1",
+			"description": "Test config"
+		},
+		"layers": {
+			"water": {
+				"minzoom": "0",
+				"maxzoom": 14
+			}
+		}
+	})", error));
+	mu_check(error.find("type") != std::string::npos);
+	mu_check(error.find("#/layers/water/minzoom") != std::string::npos);
+	mu_check(error.find("expected \"integer\", got string") != std::string::npos);
+}
+
+MU_TEST(test_invalid_source_columns) {
+	std::string error;
+	mu_check(!validateString(R"({
+		"settings": {
+			"basezoom": 14,
+			"minzoom": 0,
+			"maxzoom": 14,
+			"include_ids": false,
+			"compress": "gzip",
+			"name": "Test",
+			"version": "1",
+			"description": "Test config"
+		},
+		"layers": {
+			"water": {
+				"minzoom": 0,
+				"maxzoom": 14,
+				"source_columns": false
+			}
+		}
+	})", error));
+	mu_check(error.find("oneOf") != std::string::npos);
+}
+
+MU_TEST(test_bundled_configs) {
+	std::vector<std::string> configs = {
+		"resources/config-coastline.json",
+		"resources/config-debug.json",
+		"resources/config-example.json",
+		"resources/config-openmaptiles.json"
+	};
+	for (const auto &config: configs) {
+		std::string error;
+		mu_check(validateFile(config.c_str(), error));
+		mu_check(error.empty());
+	}
+}
+
+MU_TEST_SUITE(test_suite_config_validator) {
+	MU_RUN_TEST(test_valid_minimal_config);
+	MU_RUN_TEST(test_missing_required_setting);
+	MU_RUN_TEST(test_missing_multiple_required_settings);
+	MU_RUN_TEST(test_invalid_layer_type);
+	MU_RUN_TEST(test_invalid_source_columns);
+	MU_RUN_TEST(test_bundled_configs);
+}
+
+int main() {
+	MU_RUN_SUITE(test_suite_config_validator);
+	MU_REPORT();
+	return MU_EXIT_CODE;
+}