diff --git a/tested/dsl/translate_parser.py b/tested/dsl/translate_parser.py
index 0aa485748..245b0cf7d 100644
--- a/tested/dsl/translate_parser.py
+++ b/tested/dsl/translate_parser.py
@@ -187,19 +187,29 @@ def is_expression(_checker: TypeChecker, instance: Any) -> bool:
     return isinstance(instance, ExpressionString)
 
 
-def test(value: object) -> bool:
-    if not isinstance(value, str):
-        return False
-    import ast
-
-    ast.parse(value)
-    return True
-
-
-def load_schema_validator(file: str = "schema-strict.json") -> Validator:
+def load_schema_validator(
+    dsl_object: YamlObject = None, file: str = "schema-strict.json"
+) -> Validator:
     """
     Load the JSON Schema validator used to check DSL test suites.
     """
+    # if the programming language is set in the root, tested_dsl_expressions don't need to be parseable
+    language_present = (
+        dsl_object is not None
+        and isinstance(dsl_object, dict)
+        and "language" in dsl_object
+    )
+
+    def validate_tested_dsl_expression(value: object) -> bool:
+        if not isinstance(value, str):
+            return False
+        if language_present:
+            return True
+        import ast
+
+        ast.parse(value)
+        return True
+
     path_to_schema = Path(__file__).parent / file
     with open(path_to_schema, "r") as schema_file:
         schema_object = json.load(schema_file)
@@ -209,14 +219,13 @@ def load_schema_validator(file: str = "schema-strict.json") -> Validator:
         "oracle", is_oracle
     ).redefine("expression", is_expression)
     format_checker = original_validator.FORMAT_CHECKER
-    format_checker.checks("tested-dsl-expression", SyntaxError)(test)
+    format_checker.checks("tested-dsl-expression", SyntaxError)(
+        validate_tested_dsl_expression
+    )
     tested_validator = extend_validator(original_validator, type_checker=type_checker)
     return tested_validator(schema_object, format_checker=format_checker)
 
 
-_SCHEMA_VALIDATOR = load_schema_validator()
-
-
 class DslValidationError(ValueError):
     pass
 
@@ -310,7 +319,7 @@ def _validate_dsl(dsl_object: YamlObject):
     :param dsl_object: The object to validate.
     :return: True if valid, False otherwise.
     """
-    errors = list(_SCHEMA_VALIDATOR.iter_errors(dsl_object))
+    errors = list(load_schema_validator(dsl_object).iter_errors(dsl_object))
     if len(errors) == 1:
         message = (
             "Validating the DSL resulted in an error. "
diff --git a/tests/test_dsl_yaml.py b/tests/test_dsl_yaml.py
index 3caef72d5..aecf78846 100644
--- a/tests/test_dsl_yaml.py
+++ b/tests/test_dsl_yaml.py
@@ -1304,6 +1304,29 @@ def test_empty_text_data_newlines():
     assert actual_stderr == ""
 
 
+def test_programming_language_can_be_globally_configured():
+    yaml_str = """
+namespace: "Numbers"
+language: "java"
+tabs:
+  - tab: "Numbers.oddValues"
+    testcases:
+      - expression: "Numbers.oddValues(new int[]{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8})"
+        return: [1, 3, 5, 7]
+"""
+    json_str = translate_to_test_suite(yaml_str)
+    suite = parse_test_suite(json_str)
+    assert len(suite.tabs) == 1
+    tab = suite.tabs[0]
+    assert len(tab.contexts) == 1
+    context = tab.contexts[0]
+    assert len(context.testcases) == 1
+    testcase = context.testcases[0]
+    assert isinstance(testcase.input, LanguageLiterals)
+    assert testcase.input.type == "expression"
+    assert testcase.input.literals.keys() == {"java"}
+
+
 def test_strict_json_schema_is_valid():
     path_to_schema = Path(__file__).parent / "tested-draft7.json"
     with open(path_to_schema, "r") as schema_file:
@@ -1316,6 +1339,6 @@ def test_strict_json_schema_is_valid():
 
 
 def test_editor_json_schema_is_valid():
-    validator = load_schema_validator("schema.json")
+    validator = load_schema_validator(file="schema.json")
     assert isinstance(validator.schema, dict)
     validator.check_schema(validator.schema)