diff --git a/cmd/nex/workload.go b/cmd/nex/workload.go
index 9feeabe6..8d8f6abb 100644
--- a/cmd/nex/workload.go
+++ b/cmd/nex/workload.go
@@ -374,6 +374,10 @@ func (CopyWorkload) AfterApply(globals *Globals) error {
 func (c CopyWorkload) Validate() error {
 	var errs error
 
+	if c.NodeId != "" && c.NodeXkey == "" {
+		errs = errors.Join(errs, errors.New("Node public xkey is required if Node ID is provided"))
+	}
+
 	return errs
 }
 
@@ -391,10 +395,6 @@ func (c CopyWorkload) Run(ctx context.Context, globals *Globals) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if c.NodeId != "" && c.NodeXkey == "" {
-		return errors.New("Node public xkey is required if Node ID is provided")
-	}
-
 	if c.NodeId != "" {
 		resp, err := controller.CopyWorkload(c.WorkloadId, globals.Namespace, c.NodeXkey)
 		if err != nil {