diff --git a/hcl/hcl.go b/hcl/hcl.go
index 98eb834c8..7f205f3b2 100644
--- a/hcl/hcl.go
+++ b/hcl/hcl.go
@@ -132,9 +132,10 @@ type PartialEvaluator func(hclsyntax.Expression) (hclwrite.Tokens, error)
 // this API allows you to define the exact set of files (and contents) that are
 // going to be included in the final configuration.
 type TerramateParser struct {
-	dir       string
-	files     map[string][]byte // path=content
-	hclparser *hclparse.Parser
+	dir         string
+	files       map[string][]byte // path=content
+	parsedFiles []string
+	hclparser   *hclparse.Parser
 }
 
 // NewTerramateParser creates a Terramate parser for the directory dir.
@@ -201,7 +202,10 @@ func (p *TerramateParser) Parse() (Config, error) {
 		_, diags := p.hclparser.ParseHCL(data, name)
 		if diags.HasErrors() {
 			errs.Append(errors.E(ErrHCLSyntax, diags))
+			continue
 		}
+
+		p.parsedFiles = append(p.parsedFiles, name)
 	}
 
 	cfg, err := p.parseTerramateSchema()
@@ -599,16 +603,6 @@ func sortedAttributes(attrs hclsyntax.Attributes) []*hclsyntax.Attribute {
 	return sorted
 }
 
-func sortedFiles(fmap map[string]*hcl.File) []string {
-	var files []string
-	for fname := range fmap {
-		files = append(files, fname)
-	}
-
-	sort.Strings(files)
-	return files
-}
-
 func findStringAttr(block *hclsyntax.Block, attrName string) (string, bool, error) {
 	logger := log.With().
 		Str("action", "findStringAttr()").
@@ -975,7 +969,7 @@ func (p *TerramateParser) parseTerramateSchema() (Config, error) {
 
 	errs := errors.L()
 	fileMap := p.hclparser.Files()
-	for _, fname := range sortedFiles(fileMap) {
+	for _, fname := range p.parsedFiles {
 		hclfile := fileMap[fname]
 
 		logger := logger.With().
diff --git a/hcl/hcl_test.go b/hcl/hcl_test.go
index 16d0b0c26..eaa2c7e7a 100644
--- a/hcl/hcl_test.go
+++ b/hcl/hcl_test.go
@@ -791,6 +791,28 @@ func TestHCLParserStack(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "schema not checked for files with syntax errors",
+			input: []cfgfile{
+				{
+					filename: "stack.tm",
+					body: `
+						terramate {
+							required_version = ""
+						}
+						stack {
+							wants =
+							unrecognized = "test"
+						}
+					`,
+				},
+			},
+			want: want{
+				errs: []error{
+					errors.E(hcl.ErrHCLSyntax),
+				},
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			name: "after: empty set works",
 			input: []cfgfile{
@@ -1046,8 +1068,6 @@ func TestHCLParserMultipleErrors(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			want: want{
 				errs: []error{
-					errors.E(hcl.ErrTerramateSchema,
-						mkrange("file.tm", start(1, 1, 0), end(1, 2, 1))),
 					errors.E(hcl.ErrHCLSyntax,
 						mkrange("file.tm", start(2, 1, 4), end(2, 2, 5))),
 					errors.E(hcl.ErrHCLSyntax,
@@ -1069,14 +1089,10 @@ func TestHCLParserMultipleErrors(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			want: want{
 				errs: []error{
-					errors.E(hcl.ErrTerramateSchema,
-						mkrange("file1.tm", start(1, 1, 0), end(1, 2, 1))),
 					errors.E(hcl.ErrHCLSyntax,
 						mkrange("file1.tm", start(2, 1, 4), end(2, 2, 5))),
 					errors.E(hcl.ErrHCLSyntax,
 						mkrange("file1.tm", start(3, 1, 8), end(3, 2, 9))),
-					errors.E(hcl.ErrTerramateSchema,
-						mkrange("file2.tm", start(1, 1, 0), end(1, 2, 1))),
 					errors.E(hcl.ErrHCLSyntax,
 						mkrange("file2.tm", start(2, 1, 4), end(2, 2, 5))),
 					errors.E(hcl.ErrHCLSyntax,