diff --git a/src/main/java/org/harctoolbox/irp/IrpDatabase.java b/src/main/java/org/harctoolbox/irp/IrpDatabase.java
index 7ef74e5a..4b0b01c5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/harctoolbox/irp/IrpDatabase.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/harctoolbox/irp/IrpDatabase.java
@@ -123,6 +123,13 @@ public static boolean isValidating() {
     }
 
     public static synchronized void setValidating(boolean newValidating) throws SAXException {
+        if (newValidating && !XmlUtils.canValidate()) {
+            logger.log(Level.WARNING, "Validating not possible, ignoring.");
+            validating = false;
+            schema = null;
+            return;
+        }
+        
         validating = newValidating;
         if (validating) {
             if (schema == null)
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/harctoolbox/xml/XmlUtils.java b/src/main/java/org/harctoolbox/xml/XmlUtils.java
index a7e3cbba..67803a12 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/harctoolbox/xml/XmlUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/harctoolbox/xml/XmlUtils.java
@@ -119,11 +119,26 @@ public final class XmlUtils {
 
     private static boolean debug = false;
 
-    private static final SchemaFactory schemaFactory = SchemaFactory.newInstance(XMLConstants.W3C_XML_SCHEMA_NS_URI);
+    private static final SchemaFactory schemaFactory;
 
     static {
-        LSResourceResolver resourceResolver = new MyLSResourceResolver();
-        schemaFactory.setResourceResolver(resourceResolver);
+        SchemaFactory sf;
+        try {
+            sf = SchemaFactory.newInstance(XMLConstants.W3C_XML_SCHEMA_NS_URI);
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
+            logger.log(Level.WARNING, "SchemaFactory.newInstance failed, validation will not be available!");
+            sf = null;
+        }
+
+        schemaFactory = sf;
+        if (schemaFactory != null) {
+            LSResourceResolver resourceResolver = new MyLSResourceResolver();
+            schemaFactory.setResourceResolver(resourceResolver);
+        }
+    }
+    
+    public static boolean canValidate() {
+        return schemaFactory != null;
     }
 
     public static void setDebug(boolean dbg) {
@@ -405,7 +420,7 @@ public static void printDOM(Document doc) {
     }
 
     public static Schema readSchema(Source source) throws SAXException {
-        return schemaFactory.newSchema(source);
+        return canValidate() ? schemaFactory.newSchema(source) : null;
     }
 
     public static Schema readSchema(File schemaFile) throws SAXException {
@@ -417,7 +432,7 @@ public static Schema readSchema(InputStream inputStream) throws SAXException {
     }
 
     public static Schema readSchema(URL schemaUrl) throws SAXException {
-        return schemaFactory.newSchema(schemaUrl);
+        return canValidate() ? schemaFactory.newSchema(schemaUrl) : null;
     }
 
     public static Schema readSchema(String schemaString) throws SAXException, FileNotFoundException, IOException {
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/harctoolbox/irp/IrpTransmogrifierNGTest.java b/src/test/java/org/harctoolbox/irp/IrpTransmogrifierNGTest.java
index fbc7d04a..a2edc28e 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/harctoolbox/irp/IrpTransmogrifierNGTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/harctoolbox/irp/IrpTransmogrifierNGTest.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import org.harctoolbox.cmdline.CmdUtils;
 import org.harctoolbox.cmdline.FrequencyParser;
 import org.harctoolbox.cmdline.ProgramExitStatus;
+import org.harctoolbox.xml.XmlUtils;
 import static org.testng.Assert.assertEquals;
 import static org.testng.Assert.assertNull;
 import static org.testng.Assert.assertTrue;
@@ -692,6 +693,10 @@ public void testListHelp() {
     @Test(enabled = true)
     public void testValidate() {
         System.out.println("testValidate");
+        if (!XmlUtils.canValidate()) {
+            System.out.println("test skipped, since validation not available on this platform");
+            return;
+        } 
         String result = execute("-c src/main/resources/IrpProtocols.xml,src/test/resources/IrpProtocols-silly.xml list");
         assertTrue(result.length() > 1000);
         result = execute("--validate -c src/main/resources/IrpProtocols.xml,src/test/resources/IrpProtocols-silly.xml list");