diff --git a/java/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataproc/templates/gcs/GCSToSpanner.java b/java/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataproc/templates/gcs/GCSToSpanner.java
index b98f360de..785911957 100644
--- a/java/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataproc/templates/gcs/GCSToSpanner.java
+++ b/java/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataproc/templates/gcs/GCSToSpanner.java
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ public GCSToSpanner(GCSToSpannerConfig config) {
 
   public static GCSToSpanner of(String... args) {
     GCSToSpannerConfig config = GCSToSpannerConfig.fromProperties(PropertyUtil.getProperties());
-    ValidationUtil.validateOrThrow(config);
     LOGGER.info("Config loaded\n{}", config);
     return new GCSToSpanner(config);
   }
@@ -82,5 +81,8 @@ public void write(Dataset<Row> dataset) {
         .save();
   }
 
-  public void validateInput() {}
+  @Override
+  public void validateInput() {
+    ValidationUtil.validateOrThrow(config);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/java/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/dataproc/templates/gcs/GCSToSpannerTest.java b/java/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/dataproc/templates/gcs/GCSToSpannerTest.java
index bceda2aba..91f680ce8 100644
--- a/java/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/dataproc/templates/gcs/GCSToSpannerTest.java
+++ b/java/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/dataproc/templates/gcs/GCSToSpannerTest.java
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
 import org.apache.spark.sql.SaveMode;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.function.ThrowingSupplier;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
 import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.MethodSource;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -59,7 +58,9 @@ void setUp() {
   @Test
   void runTemplateWithValidParameters() {
     LOGGER.info("Running test: runTemplateWithValidParameters");
-    assertDoesNotThrow((ThrowingSupplier<GCSToSpanner>) GCSToSpanner::of);
+    GCSToSpannerConfig config = GCSToSpannerConfig.fromProperties(PropertyUtil.getProperties());
+    GCSToSpanner template = new GCSToSpanner(config);
+    assertDoesNotThrow(template::validateInput);
   }
 
   @ParameterizedTest
@@ -67,7 +68,10 @@ void runTemplateWithValidParameters() {
   void runTemplateWithMissingRequiredParameters(String propKey) {
     LOGGER.info("Running test: runTemplateWithInvalidParameters");
     PropertyUtil.getProperties().setProperty(propKey, "");
-    ValidationException exception = assertThrows(ValidationException.class, GCSToSpanner::of);
+    GCSToSpannerConfig config = GCSToSpannerConfig.fromProperties(PropertyUtil.getProperties());
+    GCSToSpanner template = new GCSToSpanner(config);
+    ValidationException exception =
+        assertThrows(ValidationException.class, template::validateInput);
     assertEquals(1, exception.getViolations().size());
     ConstraintViolation<?> violation = exception.getViolations().get(0);
     assertEquals("must not be empty", violation.getMessage());
@@ -83,7 +87,10 @@ void runTemplateWithMissingPrimaryKey(String saveMode) {
     LOGGER.info("Running test: runTemplateWithInvalidParameters");
     PropertyUtil.getProperties().setProperty(GCS_SPANNER_OUTPUT_SAVE_MODE, saveMode);
     PropertyUtil.getProperties().setProperty(GCS_SPANNER_OUTPUT_PRIMARY_KEY, "");
-    ValidationException exception = assertThrows(ValidationException.class, GCSToSpanner::of);
+    GCSToSpannerConfig config = GCSToSpannerConfig.fromProperties(PropertyUtil.getProperties());
+    GCSToSpanner template = new GCSToSpanner(config);
+    ValidationException exception =
+        assertThrows(ValidationException.class, template::validateInput);
     assertEquals(1, exception.getViolations().size());
     ConstraintViolation<?> violation = exception.getViolations().get(0);
     assertEquals("primaryKey", violation.getPropertyPath().toString());