diff --git a/kong/dao/schemas_validation.lua b/kong/dao/schemas_validation.lua
index 082791bc68d..27d697ffd18 100644
--- a/kong/dao/schemas_validation.lua
+++ b/kong/dao/schemas_validation.lua
@@ -103,17 +103,17 @@ function _M.validate(t, schema, is_update)
 
       if sub_schema then
         -- Check for sub-schema defaults and required properties
-        for _, sub_field in pairs(sub_schema) do
+        for sub_field_k, sub_field in pairs(sub_schema) do
           if t[column] == nil then
             if sub_field.default then
               t[column] = {}
             elseif sub_field.required then -- only check required if field doesn't have a default
-              v.required = true
+              errors = utils.add_error(errors, column, column.."."..sub_field_k.." is required")
             end
           end
         end
 
-        if t[column] then
+        if t[column] and type(t[column]) == "table" then
           -- validating subschema
           local s_ok, s_errors = _M.validate(t[column], sub_schema, is_update)
           if not s_ok then
diff --git a/spec/unit/schemas_spec.lua b/spec/unit/schemas_spec.lua
index a9945d67ce7..2a4b932df06 100644
--- a/spec/unit/schemas_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/unit/schemas_spec.lua
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@ describe("Schemas", function()
         local valid, err = validate(obj, schema)
         assert.truthy(err)
         assert.False(valid)
-        assert.are.same("value is required", err.value)
+        assert.are.same("value.some_property is required", err.value)
       end)
 
     end)