diff --git a/webapi/src/main/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/shacl/domain/ShaclValidator.scala b/webapi/src/main/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/shacl/domain/ShaclValidator.scala
index 6d4d6cedc7..d7184aaf57 100644
--- a/webapi/src/main/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/shacl/domain/ShaclValidator.scala
+++ b/webapi/src/main/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/shacl/domain/ShaclValidator.scala
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ final case class ShaclValidator() { self =>
   } yield report
 
   private def readModel(data: InputStream) = ZIO.attempt {
-    val model = ModelFactory.createOntologyModel(OntModelSpec.OWL_MEM)
+    val model = ModelFactory.createOntologyModel(OntModelSpec.OWL_MEM_RDFS_INF)
     model.read(data, null, FileUtils.langTurtle)
     model
   }
diff --git a/webapi/src/test/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/shacl/domain/ShaclValidatorSpec.scala b/webapi/src/test/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/shacl/domain/ShaclValidatorSpec.scala
index 5580adba49..c81e121aca 100644
--- a/webapi/src/test/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/shacl/domain/ShaclValidatorSpec.scala
+++ b/webapi/src/test/scala/org/knora/webapi/slice/shacl/domain/ShaclValidatorSpec.scala
@@ -67,5 +67,18 @@ object ShaclValidatorSpec extends ZIOSpecDefault {
           reportResource <- shaclValidator(_.validate(validData, shapes, ValidationOptions.default))
         } yield assertTrue(reportResource.hasProperty(SH.conforms, JenaDatatypes.TRUE))
       },
+      test("should do basic rdfs inferencing") {
+        val data = """
+                     |@prefix ex: <http://example.org/ns#> .
+                     |@prefix rdf: <http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#> .
+                     |@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
+                     |
+                     |ex:myProperty
+                     |    a rdf:Property.
+                     |""".stripMargin
+        for {
+          reportResource <- shaclValidator(_.validate(data, "", ValidationOptions.default))
+        } yield assertTrue(reportResource.hasProperty(SH.conforms, JenaDatatypes.TRUE))
+      },
     ).provide(ShaclValidator.layer)
 }