diff --git a/scm-core/pom.xml b/scm-core/pom.xml
index ac86a33f4d..643c9d1705 100644
--- a/scm-core/pom.xml
+++ b/scm-core/pom.xml
@@ -194,6 +194,19 @@
       <artifactId>hibernate-validator</artifactId>
     </dependency>
 
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>javax.el</groupId>
+      <artifactId>javax.el-api</artifactId>
+      <version>3.0.0</version>
+      <scope>test</scope>
+    </dependency>
+
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>org.glassfish</groupId>
+      <artifactId>javax.el</artifactId>
+      <version>3.0.1-b11</version>
+    </dependency>
+
     <!-- util -->
 
     <dependency>
diff --git a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/web/api/DtoValidator.java b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/web/api/DtoValidator.java
index 9ac5d3ad16..2b81fe6c62 100644
--- a/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/web/api/DtoValidator.java
+++ b/scm-core/src/main/java/sonia/scm/web/api/DtoValidator.java
@@ -31,8 +31,12 @@ import javax.validation.Validator;
 import javax.validation.ValidatorFactory;
 import java.util.Set;
 
-public class DtoValidator {
-  void validate(Object configuration) {
+public final class DtoValidator {
+
+  private DtoValidator() {
+  }
+
+  public static void validate(Object configuration) {
     ValidatorFactory factory = Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory();
     Validator validator = factory.getValidator();
     Set<ConstraintViolation<Object>> violations = validator.validate(configuration);
diff --git a/scm-core/src/test/java/sonia/scm/web/api/DtoValidatorTest.java b/scm-core/src/test/java/sonia/scm/web/api/DtoValidatorTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f3370bd252
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scm-core/src/test/java/sonia/scm/web/api/DtoValidatorTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+/*
+ * MIT License
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2020-present Cloudogu GmbH and Contributors
+ *
+ * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+ * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+ * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+ * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+ * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+ * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+ *
+ * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+ * copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+ *
+ * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+ * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+ * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+ * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+ * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+ * SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+package sonia.scm.web.api;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import javax.validation.ValidationException;
+import javax.validation.constraints.Max;
+import javax.validation.constraints.Min;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertThrows;
+
+class DtoValidatorTest {
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldValidateInvalidBean() {
+    assertThrows(
+      ValidationException.class,
+      () -> DtoValidator.validate(new AnyQuestion(43))
+    );
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldValidateValidBean() {
+    DtoValidator.validate(new AnyQuestion(42));
+  }
+
+  static class AnyQuestion {
+    @Min(42)
+    @Max(42)
+    int answer;
+
+    public AnyQuestion(int answer) {
+      this.answer = answer;
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/scm-core/src/test/resources/META-INF/validation.xml b/scm-core/src/test/resources/META-INF/validation.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..521ef2b195
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scm-core/src/test/resources/META-INF/validation.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+<!--
+
+    MIT License
+
+    Copyright (c) 2020-present Cloudogu GmbH and Contributors
+
+    Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+    of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+    in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+    to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+    copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+    furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+    The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+    copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+    THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+    IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+    FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+    AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+    LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+    OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+    SOFTWARE.
+
+-->
+<validation-config
+  xmlns="http://jboss.org/xml/ns/javax/validation/configuration"
+  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+  xsi:schemaLocation="http://jboss.org/xml/ns/javax/validation/configuration"
+  version="1.1">
+
+  <parameter-name-provider>org.hibernate.validator.parameternameprovider.ReflectionParameterNameProvider</parameter-name-provider>
+
+</validation-config>