diff --git a/cmd/obp/cmd/validate.go b/cmd/obp/cmd/validate.go
index f3c5ff1..d973cce 100644
--- a/cmd/obp/cmd/validate.go
+++ b/cmd/obp/cmd/validate.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"io/fs"
 	"log"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 
 	_ "github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v5/httploader"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
@@ -53,6 +54,15 @@ var validateCmd = &cobra.Command{
 			}
 
 			log.Printf("scanning %q\n", path)
+			absPath, err := filepath.Abs(filepath.Join(target, path))
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("error generating absolute path for %q", target)
+			}
+			target, err := os.Open(absPath)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("could not open target file: %w", err)
+			}
+			defer target.Close()
 			return obp.Validate(schema, target)
 		})
 		// return obp.Validate(schema, target)
diff --git a/validate.go b/validate.go
index 4f51e28..2571932 100644
--- a/validate.go
+++ b/validate.go
@@ -2,22 +2,18 @@ package obp
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"os"
+	"io"
 
 	"github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v5"
 	_ "github.com/santhosh-tekuri/jsonschema/v5/httploader"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
 )
 
-func Validate(schemaURL, filename string) error {
+func Validate(schemaURL string, r io.Reader) error {
 	var m interface{}
 
-	target, err := os.Open(filename)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("could not open target file: %w", err)
-	}
-	dec := yaml.NewDecoder(target)
-	err = dec.Decode(&m)
+	dec := yaml.NewDecoder(r)
+	err := dec.Decode(&m)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error decoding YAML: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -28,7 +24,7 @@ func Validate(schemaURL, filename string) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error compiling schema: %w", err)
 	}
 	if err := schema.Validate(m); err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("error validating target %q: %w", filename, err)
+		return fmt.Errorf("error validating target: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	return nil