diff --git a/.github/workflows/conformance.yml b/.github/workflows/conformance.yml
index 84659d3..4aee269 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/conformance.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/conformance.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ jobs:
       with:
         python-version: '3.11'
 
+    - name: Run manifest validation without dependencies
+      run: python -S ./conformance/bin/conformance-test manifest ./conformance/examples/ai-catalog.json
+
     - name: Install dependencies
       run: |
         python -m pip install --upgrade pip