diff --git a/frontend/mariner2/handle_rpm.go b/frontend/mariner2/handle_rpm.go
index d5dc79ee5..434be0af3 100644
--- a/frontend/mariner2/handle_rpm.go
+++ b/frontend/mariner2/handle_rpm.go
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ func tdnfCacheMountWithPrefix(prefix string) llb.RunOption {
 }
 
 func handleRPM(ctx context.Context, client gwclient.Client, spec *dalec.Spec) (gwclient.Reference, *image.Image, error) {
+	if err := rpm.ValidateSpec(spec); err != nil {
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("rpm: invalid spec: %w", err)
+	}
+
 	pg := dalec.ProgressGroup("Building mariner2 rpm: " + spec.Name)
 	sOpt, err := frontend.SourceOptFromClient(ctx, client)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/frontend/rpm/handle_buildroot.go b/frontend/rpm/handle_buildroot.go
index 24af9a01c..b9f181587 100644
--- a/frontend/rpm/handle_buildroot.go
+++ b/frontend/rpm/handle_buildroot.go
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ func BuildrootHandler(target string) frontend.BuildFunc {
 
 // SpecToBuildrootLLB converts a dalec.Spec to an rpm buildroot
 func SpecToBuildrootLLB(spec *dalec.Spec, target string, sOpt dalec.SourceOpts, opts ...llb.ConstraintsOpt) (llb.State, error) {
+	if err := ValidateSpec(spec); err != nil {
+		return llb.Scratch(), fmt.Errorf("invalid spec: %w", err)
+	}
 	opts = append(opts, dalec.ProgressGroup("Create RPM buildroot"))
 	sources, err := Dalec2SourcesLLB(spec, sOpt, opts...)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/frontend/rpm/handle_rpm.go b/frontend/rpm/handle_rpm.go
index 4a6e8a4af..c85f21e72 100644
--- a/frontend/rpm/handle_rpm.go
+++ b/frontend/rpm/handle_rpm.go
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 package rpm
 
 import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+
 	"github.com/Azure/dalec"
 	"github.com/moby/buildkit/client/llb"
 )
@@ -35,3 +38,26 @@ func Build(topDir, workerImg llb.State, specPath string, opts ...llb.Constraints
 	).
 		AddMount("/build/out", llb.Scratch())
 }
+
+var errMissingRequiredField = errors.New("missing required field")
+
+// ValidateSpec makes sure all the necessary fields are present in the spec to make rpmbuild work
+// This validation is specific to rpmbuild.
+func ValidateSpec(spec *dalec.Spec) (out error) {
+	if spec.Name == "" {
+		out = errors.Join(out, fmt.Errorf("%w: name", errMissingRequiredField))
+	}
+	if spec.Version == "" {
+		out = errors.Join(out, fmt.Errorf("%w: version", errMissingRequiredField))
+	}
+	if spec.Revision == "" {
+		out = errors.Join(out, fmt.Errorf("%w: revision", errMissingRequiredField))
+	}
+	if spec.Description == "" {
+		out = errors.Join(out, fmt.Errorf("%w: description", errMissingRequiredField))
+	}
+	if spec.Website == "" {
+		out = errors.Join(out, fmt.Errorf("%w: website", errMissingRequiredField))
+	}
+	return out
+}
diff --git a/frontend/rpm/handle_spec.go b/frontend/rpm/handle_spec.go
index 78d4d6731..c5749d2a4 100644
--- a/frontend/rpm/handle_spec.go
+++ b/frontend/rpm/handle_spec.go
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ func SpecHandler(target string) frontend.BuildFunc {
 }
 
 func Dalec2SpecLLB(spec *dalec.Spec, in llb.State, target, dir string, opts ...llb.ConstraintsOpt) (llb.State, error) {
+	if err := ValidateSpec(spec); err != nil {
+		return llb.Scratch(), fmt.Errorf("invalid spec: %w", err)
+	}
 	opts = append(opts, dalec.ProgressGroup("Generate RPM spec"))
 	buf := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
 	info, _ := debug.ReadBuildInfo()