diff --git a/zuul/scheduler.py b/zuul/scheduler.py
index a31e6a4d80..ecec8d890a 100644
--- a/zuul/scheduler.py
+++ b/zuul/scheduler.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import threading
 import time
 import traceback
 import urllib
+import uuid
 from collections import defaultdict
 
 from apscheduler.schedulers.background import BackgroundScheduler
@@ -855,12 +856,20 @@ class Scheduler(threading.Thread):
                 invalid = tenants_to_load.difference(available_tenants)
                 raise RuntimeError(f"Invalid tenant(s) found: {invalid}")
 
-            abide = Abide()
-            loader.loadAdminRules(abide, unparsed_abide)
-            loader.loadTPCs(abide, unparsed_abide)
-            for tenant_name in tenants_to_load:
-                loader.loadTenant(abide, tenant_name, self.ansible_manager,
-                                  unparsed_abide, min_ltimes=None)
+            # Use a temporary config cache for the validation
+            validate_root = f"/zuul/validate/{uuid.uuid4().hex}"
+            self.unparsed_config_cache = UnparsedConfigCache(self.zk_client,
+                                                             validate_root)
+
+            try:
+                abide = Abide()
+                loader.loadAdminRules(abide, unparsed_abide)
+                loader.loadTPCs(abide, unparsed_abide)
+                for tenant_name in tenants_to_load:
+                    loader.loadTenant(abide, tenant_name, self.ansible_manager,
+                                      unparsed_abide, min_ltimes=None)
+            finally:
+                self.zk_client.client.delete(validate_root, recursive=True)
 
             loading_errors = []
             for tenant in abide.tenants.values():
diff --git a/zuul/zk/config_cache.py b/zuul/zk/config_cache.py
index a3d258c070..41cc60492d 100644
--- a/zuul/zk/config_cache.py
+++ b/zuul/zk/config_cache.py
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ from kazoo.exceptions import NoNodeError
 
 from zuul.zk import sharding, ZooKeeperSimpleBase
 
+CONFIG_ROOT = "/zuul/config"
+
 
 def _safe_path(root_path, *keys):
     return "/".join((root_path, *(quote_plus(k) for k in keys)))
@@ -134,13 +136,12 @@ class FilesCache(ZooKeeperSimpleBase, MutableMapping):
 class UnparsedConfigCache(ZooKeeperSimpleBase):
     """Zookeeper cache for unparsed config files."""
 
-    CONFIG_ROOT = "/zuul/config"
     log = logging.getLogger("zuul.zk.config_cache.UnparsedConfigCache")
 
-    def __init__(self, client):
+    def __init__(self, client, config_root=CONFIG_ROOT):
         super().__init__(client)
-        self.cache_path = f"{self.CONFIG_ROOT}/cache"
-        self.lock_path = f"{self.CONFIG_ROOT}/lock"
+        self.cache_path = f"{config_root}/cache"
+        self.lock_path = f"{config_root}/lock"
 
     def readLock(self, project_cname):
         return self.kazoo_client.ReadLock(