diff --git a/helper/args/args.go b/helper/args/args.go
index 86f43f1f62e..fd78c377000 100644
--- a/helper/args/args.go
+++ b/helper/args/args.go
@@ -26,3 +26,8 @@ func ReplaceEnv(arg string, environments ...map[string]string) string {
 func ReplaceEnvWithPlaceHolder(arg string, placeholder string) string {
 	return envRe.ReplaceAllString(arg, placeholder)
 }
+
+// ContainsEnv takes an arg and returns true if if contains an environment variable reference
+func ContainsEnv(arg string) bool {
+	return envRe.MatchString(arg)
+}
diff --git a/helper/args/args_test.go b/helper/args/args_test.go
index 974f4cbf39e..5b8d91b8264 100644
--- a/helper/args/args_test.go
+++ b/helper/args/args_test.go
@@ -75,3 +75,32 @@ func TestArgs_ReplaceEnv_Chained(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("ReplaceEnv(%v, %v) returned %#v; want %#v", input, envVars, act, exp)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestArgs_ContainsEnv(t *testing.T) {
+	positiveCases := []string{
+		"test-${env_var}",
+	}
+	for _, c := range positiveCases {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("positive case: %v", c), func(t *testing.T) {
+			if !ContainsEnv(c) {
+				t.Fatalf("ContainsEnv(%v) returned false; want true", c)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+	negativeCases := []string{
+		"test",
+		"test-$",
+		"test-${asdf",
+		"test-{asdf}",
+		"$test",
+	}
+	for _, c := range negativeCases {
+		t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("negative case: %v", c), func(t *testing.T) {
+			if ContainsEnv(c) {
+				t.Fatalf("ContainsEnv(%v) returned true; want false", c)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/nomad/structs/structs.go b/nomad/structs/structs.go
index f26df1d5c35..1f269c4c062 100644
--- a/nomad/structs/structs.go
+++ b/nomad/structs/structs.go
@@ -6154,50 +6154,62 @@ func (ta *TaskArtifact) Validate() error {
 		mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("destination escapes allocation directory"))
 	}
 
-	// Verify the checksum
-	if check, ok := ta.GetterOptions["checksum"]; ok {
-		check = strings.TrimSpace(check)
-		if check == "" {
-			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("checksum value cannot be empty"))
-			return mErr.ErrorOrNil()
-		}
+	if err := ta.validateChecksum(); err != nil {
+		mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, err)
+	}
 
-		parts := strings.Split(check, ":")
-		if l := len(parts); l != 2 {
-			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf(`checksum must be given as "type:value"; got %q`, check))
-			return mErr.ErrorOrNil()
-		}
+	return mErr.ErrorOrNil()
+}
 
-		checksumVal := parts[1]
-		checksumBytes, err := hex.DecodeString(checksumVal)
-		if err != nil {
-			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("invalid checksum: %v", err))
-			return mErr.ErrorOrNil()
-		}
+func (ta *TaskArtifact) validateChecksum() error {
+	check, ok := ta.GetterOptions["checksum"]
+	if !ok {
+		return nil
+	}
 
-		checksumType := parts[0]
-		expectedLength := 0
-		switch checksumType {
-		case "md5":
-			expectedLength = md5.Size
-		case "sha1":
-			expectedLength = sha1.Size
-		case "sha256":
-			expectedLength = sha256.Size
-		case "sha512":
-			expectedLength = sha512.Size
-		default:
-			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("unsupported checksum type: %s", checksumType))
-			return mErr.ErrorOrNil()
-		}
+	// Job struct validation occurs before interpolation resolution can be effective.
+	// Skip checking if checksum contain variable reference, and artifacts fetching will
+	// eventually fail, if checksum is indeed invalid.
+	if args.ContainsEnv(check) {
+		return nil
+	}
 
-		if len(checksumBytes) != expectedLength {
-			mErr.Errors = append(mErr.Errors, fmt.Errorf("invalid %s checksum: %v", checksumType, checksumVal))
-			return mErr.ErrorOrNil()
-		}
+	check = strings.TrimSpace(check)
+	if check == "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("checksum value cannot be empty")
 	}
 
-	return mErr.ErrorOrNil()
+	parts := strings.Split(check, ":")
+	if l := len(parts); l != 2 {
+		return fmt.Errorf(`checksum must be given as "type:value"; got %q`, check)
+	}
+
+	checksumVal := parts[1]
+	checksumBytes, err := hex.DecodeString(checksumVal)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid checksum: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	checksumType := parts[0]
+	expectedLength := 0
+	switch checksumType {
+	case "md5":
+		expectedLength = md5.Size
+	case "sha1":
+		expectedLength = sha1.Size
+	case "sha256":
+		expectedLength = sha256.Size
+	case "sha512":
+		expectedLength = sha512.Size
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("unsupported checksum type: %s", checksumType)
+	}
+
+	if len(checksumBytes) != expectedLength {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid %s checksum: %v", checksumType, checksumVal)
+	}
+
+	return nil
 }
 
 const (
diff --git a/nomad/structs/structs_test.go b/nomad/structs/structs_test.go
index 88bebcbe880..e6e9d09eba9 100644
--- a/nomad/structs/structs_test.go
+++ b/nomad/structs/structs_test.go
@@ -2672,6 +2672,15 @@ func TestTaskArtifact_Validate_Checksum(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			true,
 		},
+		{
+			&TaskArtifact{
+				GetterSource: "foo.com",
+				GetterOptions: map[string]string{
+					"checksum": "md5:${ARTIFACT_CHECKSUM}",
+				},
+			},
+			false,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for i, tc := range cases {