diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index b0b87397..8d2ddbea 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ jobs:
       - run: psql test -c 'alter database test set enable_seqscan = off'
 
       # setup the database for testing
-      - run: make installcheck REGRESS="pinecone_crud pinecone_medium_create pinecone_zero_vector_insert pinecone_build_after_insert pinecone_index_metrics" REGRESS_OPTS="--dbname=test --inputdir=./test --use-existing"
+      - run: make installcheck REGRESS="pinecone_crud pinecone_medium_create pinecone_zero_vector_insert pinecone_build_after_insert pinecone_invalid_config pinecone_index_metrics" REGRESS_OPTS="--dbname=test --inputdir=./test --use-existing"
       - if: ${{ failure() }}
         run: cat regression.diffs
   # mac:
diff --git a/src/pinecone/pinecone_validate.c b/src/pinecone/pinecone_validate.c
index 3bfbe961..93cfb790 100644
--- a/src/pinecone/pinecone_validate.c
+++ b/src/pinecone/pinecone_validate.c
@@ -22,13 +22,23 @@ void validate_vector_nonzero(Vector* vector) {
 
 
 void pinecone_spec_validator(const PineconeOptions *opts) {
-    const char* spec_str = GET_STRING_RELOPTION(opts, spec);
-    if (opts == NULL || cJSON_Parse(spec_str) == NULL || (spec_str != NULL && strcmp(spec_str, "") == 0)){
+    if (opts == NULL || cJSON_Parse(GET_STRING_RELOPTION(opts, spec)) == NULL) {
         ereport(ERROR,
                 (errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
                  errmsg("Invalid spec"),
                  errhint("Spec should be a valid JSON object e.g. WITH (spec='{\"serverless\":{\"cloud\":\"aws\",\"region\":\"us-west-2\"}}').\n \
                          Refer to https://docs.pinecone.io/reference/create_index")));
+
+    } else {
+        const char* spec_str = GET_STRING_RELOPTION(opts, spec);
+        if (spec_str != NULL && strcmp(spec_str, "") == 0) {
+            ereport(ERROR,
+                (errcode(ERRCODE_INVALID_PARAMETER_VALUE),
+                 errmsg("Invalid spec"),
+                 errhint("Spec should be a valid JSON object e.g. WITH (spec='{\"serverless\":{\"cloud\":\"aws\",\"region\":\"us-west-2\"}}').\n \
+                         Refer to https://docs.pinecone.io/reference/create_index")));
+
+        }
     }
 }