diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ec0b03cb..25f81c71 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -115,13 +115,12 @@ A record of chain configurations. The record key is the chain ID. For example:
 
 ##### `contracts`
 
-A record of contract addresses used by Airseeker. If not specified, the addresses are loaded from
-[Airnode protocol v1](https://github.com/api3dao/airnode-protocol-v1).
+A record of contract addresses used by Airseeker.
 
 ###### Api3ServerV1 _(optional)_
 
-The address of the Api3ServerV1 contract. If not specified, the address is loaded from the Airnode protocol v1
-repository.
+The address of the Api3ServerV1 contract. If not specified, the address is loaded from the
+[Airnode protocol v1](https://github.com/api3dao/airnode-protocol-v1) repository.
 
 ###### DapiDataRegistry
 
diff --git a/src/config/schema.test.ts b/src/config/schema.test.ts
index 332b7220..8dd6dfe2 100644
--- a/src/config/schema.test.ts
+++ b/src/config/schema.test.ts
@@ -15,30 +15,28 @@ const gasSettings = {
   maxScalingMultiplier: 2,
 };
 
-test('validates example config', async () => {
+test('validates example config', () => {
   const exampleConfig = JSON.parse(readFileSync(join(__dirname, '../../config/airseeker.example.json'), 'utf8'));
 
   // The mnemonic is not interpolated (and thus invalid).
-  await expect(configSchema.parseAsync(exampleConfig)).rejects.toStrictEqual(
+  expect(() => configSchema.parse(exampleConfig)).toThrow(
     new ZodError([
+      {
+        code: 'custom',
+        message: 'Invalid mnemonic',
+        path: ['sponsorWalletMnemonic'],
+      },
       {
         validation: 'url',
         code: 'invalid_string',
         message: 'Invalid url',
         path: ['chains', '31337', 'providers', 'hardhat', 'url'],
       },
-      {
-        code: 'custom',
-        message: 'Invalid mnemonic',
-        path: ['sponsorWalletMnemonic'],
-      },
     ])
   );
 
   const exampleSecrets = dotenv.parse(readFileSync(join(__dirname, '../../config/secrets.example.env'), 'utf8'));
-  await expect(configSchema.parseAsync(interpolateSecrets(exampleConfig, exampleSecrets))).resolves.toStrictEqual(
-    expect.any(Object)
-  );
+  expect(configSchema.parse(interpolateSecrets(exampleConfig, exampleSecrets))).toStrictEqual(expect.any(Object));
 });
 
 describe('chains schema', () => {
@@ -73,7 +71,7 @@ describe('chains schema', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  it('uses loads the contract address from airnode-protocol-v1', () => {
+  it('uses the contract address from airnode-protocol-v1', () => {
     const chains = {
       '1': {
         providers: {
@@ -111,6 +109,9 @@ describe('chains schema', () => {
             url: 'http://localhost:8545',
           },
         },
+        contracts: {
+          DapiDataRegistry: '0xDD78254f864F97f65e2d86541BdaEf88A504D2B2',
+        },
         __Temporary__DapiDataRegistry: {
           airnodeToSignedApiUrl: {},
           dataFeedIdToBeacons: {},
@@ -187,6 +188,7 @@ describe('chains schema', () => {
       '31337': {
         contracts: {
           Api3ServerV1: '0xe7f1725E7734CE288F8367e1Bb143E90bb3F0512',
+          DapiDataRegistry: '0xDD78254f864F97f65e2d86541BdaEf88A504D2B2',
         },
         providers: {},
         __Temporary__DapiDataRegistry: {
diff --git a/src/config/schema.ts b/src/config/schema.ts
index 2f65dfc2..de8333f9 100644
--- a/src/config/schema.ts
+++ b/src/config/schema.ts
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ export const optionalChainSchema = z
   .object({
     providers: z.record(providerSchema), // The record key is the provider "nickname"
     __Temporary__DapiDataRegistry: temporaryDapiDataRegistrySchema,
-    contracts: optionalContractsSchema.optional(),
+    contracts: optionalContractsSchema,
     gasSettings: gasSettingsSchema,
     dataFeedUpdateInterval: z.number().positive(),
     dataFeedBatchSize: z.number().positive(),
@@ -109,7 +109,8 @@ export const chainsSchema = z
       Object.entries(chains).map(([chainId, chain]) => {
         const { contracts } = chain;
         const parsedContracts = contractsSchema.safeParse({
-          Api3ServerV1: contracts?.Api3ServerV1 ?? references.Api3ServerV1[chainId],
+          Api3ServerV1: contracts.Api3ServerV1 ?? references.Api3ServerV1[chainId],
+          DapiDataRegistry: contracts.DapiDataRegistry,
         });
         if (!parsedContracts.success) {
           ctx.addIssue({