diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c5c78e972..facbd9e91 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ Generic templated configuration management for Kubernetes, Terraform and other
 things
 
 positional arguments:
-  {eval,compile,inventory,searchvar,secrets,lint,init}
+  {eval,compile,inventory,searchvar,secrets,lint,init,validate}
                         commands
     eval                evaluate jsonnet file
     compile             compile targets
@@ -296,6 +296,8 @@ positional arguments:
     lint                linter for inventory and secrets
     init                initialize a directory with the recommended kapitan
                         project skeleton.
+    validate            validates the compile output against schemas as
+                        specified in inventory
 
 optional arguments:
   -h, --help            show this help message and exit
@@ -637,6 +639,41 @@ $ kapitan searchvar parameters.elasticsearch.replicas
 ./inventory/classes/component/elasticsearch.yml   1
 ```
 
+### kapitan validate
+
+Validates the schema of compiled output (currently supports Kubernetes manifests).
+
+Refer to the `minikube-es` inventory in [kapitan inventory](###kapitan-inventory). To validate the schema of the compiled StatefulSet manifest at `compiled/minikube-es/manifests/es-client.yml` (created by `components/elasticsearch/maiin.jsonnet`), add `kapitan.validate` parameters in `minikube-es` inventory.
+
+```yaml
+kapitan:
+  vars:
+    target: ${target_name}
+    namespace: ${target_name}
+  compile:
+  - output_path: manifests
+    input_type: jsonnet
+    input_paths:
+      - components/elasticsearch/main.jsonnet
+
+    ### other inputs abbreviated for clarity ###
+  validate:
+  - output_paths:
+      - manifests/es-client.yml
+    type: kubernetes
+    kind: statefulset
+    version: 1.14.0 # optional, defaults to 1.14.0
+```
+
+Then run:
+
+```
+$ kapitan validate -t minikube-es
+invalid 'statefulset' manifest at ./compiled/minikube-es/manifests/es-client.yml
+['spec'] 'selector' is a required property
+```
+
+
 # Kapitan feature proposals
 
 See [kapitan_proposals/](docs/kap_proposals/).
diff --git a/kapitan/targets.py b/kapitan/targets.py
index 07025d7d8..144c09377 100644
--- a/kapitan/targets.py
+++ b/kapitan/targets.py
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ def create_validate_mapping(target_objs, compiled_path):
                     full_output_path = os.path.join(compiled_path, target_name, output_path)
                     if not os.path.isfile(full_output_path):
                         logger.warning("{} does not exist for target '{}'. skipping".
-                                       format(full_output_path, target_name))
+                                       format(output_path, target_name))
                         continue
                     validate_files_map[kind_version_pair].append(full_output_path)
             else:
diff --git a/kapitan/validator/kubernetes_validator.py b/kapitan/validator/kubernetes_validator.py
index 1c557a51d..a159dbf78 100644
--- a/kapitan/validator/kubernetes_validator.py
+++ b/kapitan/validator/kubernetes_validator.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def validate(self, validate_paths, **kwargs):
                 validate_instance = yaml.safe_load(fp.read())
                 errors = sorted(validator.iter_errors(validate_instance), key=lambda e: e.path)
                 if errors:
-                    error_message = 'invalid manifest for {}\n'.format(validate_path)
+                    error_message = "invalid '{}' manifest at {}\n".format(kind, validate_path)
                     error_message += '\n'.join(['{} {}'.format(list(error.path), error.message) for error in errors])
                     raise KubernetesManifestValidationError(error_message)
                 else:
diff --git a/tests/test_kubernetes_validator.py b/tests/test_kubernetes_validator.py
index e71d45fbc..53dfcaad6 100644
--- a/tests/test_kubernetes_validator.py
+++ b/tests/test_kubernetes_validator.py
@@ -79,10 +79,11 @@ def test_validate_command_fail(self):
         original_file = file_name_format.format('')
         copied_file = file_name_format.format('_copy')
         copyfile(original_file, copied_file)
+        wrong_manifest_kind = 'deployment'
         with open(original_file, 'r') as fp:
             d = yaml.safe_load(fp)
             # change kind from service to deployment
-            d['parameters']['kapitan']['validate'][0]['kind'] = 'deployment'
+            d['parameters']['kapitan']['validate'][0]['kind'] = wrong_manifest_kind
         with open(original_file, 'w') as fp:
             yaml.dump(d, fp, default_flow_style=False)
 
@@ -94,7 +95,7 @@ def test_validate_command_fail(self):
                 # copy back the original file
                 copyfile(copied_file, original_file)
                 os.remove(copied_file)
-        self.assertTrue(' '.join(log.output).find('invalid manifest') != -1)
+        self.assertTrue(' '.join(log.output).find("invalid '{}' manifest".format(wrong_manifest_kind)) != -1)
 
     def test_validate_after_compile(self):
         sys.argv = ['kapitan', 'compile', '-t', 'minikube-mysql', '--validate', '--schemas-path', self.cache_dir]