diff --git a/api/stacks/stackutils/validation_test.go b/api/stacks/stackutils/validation_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..712712f79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/api/stacks/stackutils/validation_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+package stackutils
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func composeFileWithBuild(p string) []byte {
+	return []byte(`
+services:
+  service1:
+    build: ` + p)
+}
+
+func composeFileWithBuildContext(p string) []byte {
+	return []byte(`
+services:
+  service1:
+    build:
+      context: ` + p)
+}
+
+func TestIsValidBuildContext(t *testing.T) {
+	var validPaths = []string{
+		".",
+		"./portainer",
+		`portainer\agent`,
+		"portainer",
+		" portainer",
+		"https://github.com/portainer/portainer",
+		"git@github.com/portainer/portainer.git",
+	}
+
+	var invalidPaths = []string{
+		"/etc/shadow",
+		`C:\Windows`,
+		"C:/Windows",
+		"./../../../../../etc/shadow",
+		" ..",
+	}
+
+	testFn := func(p string, mustFail bool) {
+		for _, fn := range []func(string) []byte{composeFileWithBuild, composeFileWithBuildContext} {
+			composeConfig, err := loadComposeConfig(fn(p))
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("failed to load compose config: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			err = IsValidBuildContext(composeConfig)
+			if mustFail && err == nil {
+				t.Errorf("expected '%s' to be an invalid build context", p)
+			}
+
+			if !mustFail && err != nil {
+				t.Errorf("expected '%s' to be a valid build context", p)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	for _, p := range validPaths {
+		testFn(p, false)
+	}
+
+	for _, p := range invalidPaths {
+		testFn(p, true)
+	}
+}