diff --git a/scripts/check.py b/scripts/check.py
index 09257984b..faafe7dd7 100755
--- a/scripts/check.py
+++ b/scripts/check.py
@@ -99,6 +99,11 @@ def dict_raise_on_duplicates(ordered_pairs):
 
         ## jsonschema validate
         validator.validate(source, schema)
+
+        if "properties" not in source:
+            logger.exception(f"{filename} missing properties")
+            raise ValidationError(f"{filename} missing properties")
+
         sourceid = source["properties"]["id"]
         if sourceid in seen_ids:
             raise ValidationError("Id %s used multiple times" % sourceid)