diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate_schema.yaml b/.github/workflows/validate_schema.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d53a4eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate_schema.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+name: Validate schema
+
+on: [push, pull_request, workflow_dispatch]
+
+jobs:
+  validate:
+    # run pipeline on either a push event or a PR event on a fork
+    if: github.event_name != 'pull_request' || github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name != github.event.pull_request.base.repo.full_name
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+    - name: Set up Python 3.10
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v4
+      with:
+        python-version: "3.10"
+    - name: Install dev branch of HDMF
+      run: |
+        pip install git+https://github.com/hdmf-dev/hdmf.git
+    - name: Validate schema specification
+      run: |
+        validate_hdmf_spec common -m hdmf-common.schema.json