diff --git a/src/config/lang/english.go b/src/config/lang/english.go
index 6ead05cdd7..4c074861e1 100644
--- a/src/config/lang/english.go
+++ b/src/config/lang/english.go
@@ -698,6 +698,8 @@ const (
 	PkgValidateErrComponentNameNotUnique  = "component name %q is not unique"
 	PkgValidateErrComponentReqDefault     = "component %q cannot be both required and default"
 	PkgValidateErrComponentReqGrouped     = "component %q cannot be both required and grouped"
+	PkgValidateErrChartNamespaceMissing   = "chart %q must include a namespace"
+	PkgValidateErrChartVersion            = "chart %q must include a chart version"
 	PkgValidateErrGroupMultipleDefaults   = "group %q has multiple defaults (%q, %q)"
 	PkgValidateErrGroupOneComponent       = "group %q only has one component (%q)"
 	PkgValidateErrConstant                = "invalid package constant: %w"
diff --git a/src/types/component.go b/src/types/component.go
index 48c5458efd..562ca924dd 100644
--- a/src/types/component.go
+++ b/src/types/component.go
@@ -116,12 +116,12 @@ type ZarfFile struct {
 // ZarfChart defines a helm chart to be deployed.
 type ZarfChart struct {
 	Name        string              `json:"name" jsonschema:"description=The name of the chart within Zarf; note that this must be unique and does not need to be the same as the name in the chart repo"`
-	Version     string              `json:"version" jsonschema:"description=The version of the chart to deploy; for git-based charts this is also the tag of the git repo by default (when not using the '@' syntax for 'repos')"`
+	Version     string              `json:"version,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=The version of the chart to deploy; for git-based charts this is also the tag of the git repo by default (when not using the '@' syntax for 'repos')"`
 	URL         string              `json:"url,omitempty" jsonschema:"example=OCI registry: oci://ghcr.io/stefanprodan/charts/podinfo,example=helm chart repo: https://stefanprodan.github.io/podinfo,example=git repo: https://github.com/stefanprodan/podinfo (note the '@' syntax for 'repos' is supported here too)" jsonschema_description:"The URL of the OCI registry, chart repository, or git repo where the helm chart is stored"`
 	RepoName    string              `json:"repoName,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=The name of a chart within a Helm repository (defaults to the Zarf name of the chart)"`
 	GitPath     string              `json:"gitPath,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=(git repo only) The sub directory to the chart within a git repo,example=charts/your-chart"`
 	LocalPath   string              `json:"localPath,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=The path to a local chart's folder or .tgz archive"`
-	Namespace   string              `json:"namespace" jsonschema:"description=The namespace to deploy the chart to"`
+	Namespace   string              `json:"namespace,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=The namespace to deploy the chart to"`
 	ReleaseName string              `json:"releaseName,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=The name of the Helm release to create (defaults to the Zarf name of the chart)"`
 	NoWait      bool                `json:"noWait,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=Whether to not wait for chart resources to be ready before continuing"`
 	ValuesFiles []string            `json:"valuesFiles,omitempty" jsonschema:"description=List of local values file paths or remote URLs to include in the package; these will be merged together when deployed"`
diff --git a/src/types/validate.go b/src/types/validate.go
index 6b87bb2642..ea90d4e634 100644
--- a/src/types/validate.go
+++ b/src/types/validate.go
@@ -261,6 +261,14 @@ func (chart ZarfChart) Validate() error {
 		err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf(lang.PkgValidateErrChartName, chart.Name, ZarfMaxChartNameLength))
 	}
 
+	if chart.Version == "" {
+		err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf(lang.PkgValidateErrChartVersion, chart.Name))
+	}
+
+	if chart.Namespace == "" {
+		err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf(lang.PkgValidateErrChartNamespaceMissing, chart.Name))
+	}
+
 	// Must have a url or localPath (and not both)
 	if chart.URL != "" && chart.LocalPath != "" {
 		err = errors.Join(err, fmt.Errorf(lang.PkgValidateErrChartURLOrPath, chart.Name))
diff --git a/src/types/validate_test.go b/src/types/validate_test.go
index bea69c7860..eea97ec097 100644
--- a/src/types/validate_test.go
+++ b/src/types/validate_test.go
@@ -196,26 +196,28 @@ func TestValidateChart(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{
 			name:         "valid",
-			chart:        ZarfChart{Name: "chart1", URL: "http://whatever"},
+			chart:        ZarfChart{Name: "chart1", Namespace: "whatever", URL: "http://whatever", Version: "v1.0.0"},
 			expectedErrs: nil,
 		},
 		{
 			name:  "long name",
-			chart: ZarfChart{Name: longName, URL: "http://whatever"},
+			chart: ZarfChart{Name: longName, Namespace: "whatever", URL: "http://whatever", Version: "v1.0.0"},
 			expectedErrs: []string{
 				fmt.Sprintf(lang.PkgValidateErrChartName, longName, ZarfMaxChartNameLength),
 			},
 		},
 		{
-			name:  "no url or local path",
+			name:  "no url, local path, version, or namespace",
 			chart: ZarfChart{Name: "invalid"},
 			expectedErrs: []string{
+				fmt.Sprintf(lang.PkgValidateErrChartNamespaceMissing, "invalid"),
 				fmt.Sprintf(lang.PkgValidateErrChartURLOrPath, "invalid"),
+				fmt.Sprintf(lang.PkgValidateErrChartVersion, "invalid"),
 			},
 		},
 		{
 			name:  "both url and local path",
-			chart: ZarfChart{Name: "invalid", URL: "http://whatever", LocalPath: "wherever"},
+			chart: ZarfChart{Name: "invalid", Namespace: "whatever", URL: "http://whatever", LocalPath: "wherever", Version: "v1.0.0"},
 			expectedErrs: []string{
 				fmt.Sprintf(lang.PkgValidateErrChartURLOrPath, "invalid"),
 			},
diff --git a/zarf.schema.json b/zarf.schema.json
index 9ff37da5f5..04b4da7e76 100644
--- a/zarf.schema.json
+++ b/zarf.schema.json
@@ -382,9 +382,7 @@
       "additionalProperties": false,
       "type": "object",
       "required": [
-        "name",
-        "version",
-        "namespace"
+        "name"
       ],
       "patternProperties": {
         "^x-": {}