diff --git a/src/Core/WinSWCore/ServiceDescriptor.cs b/src/Core/WinSWCore/ServiceDescriptor.cs
index e62c6bf..4e3a25e 100755
--- a/src/Core/WinSWCore/ServiceDescriptor.cs
+++ b/src/Core/WinSWCore/ServiceDescriptor.cs
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.IO;
+using System.Reflection;
 using System.Text;
 using System.Xml;
 using System.Xml.Schema;
@@ -104,13 +105,23 @@ namespace winsw
         {
             XmlReaderSettings settings = new XmlReaderSettings();
 
+            Assembly a = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
+            string[] resourceNames = this.GetType().Assembly.GetManifestResourceNames();
+
             try
             {
-                settings.Schemas.Add(null, BasePath + ".xsd");
+                using (Stream schemaStream = a.GetManifestResourceStream("winsw.XMLSchema.xsd"))
+                {
+                    using (XmlReader schemaReader = XmlReader.Create(schemaStream))
+                    {
+                        settings.Schemas.Add(null, schemaReader);
+                    }
+
+                }
             }
-            catch (FileNotFoundException)
+            catch(Exception e)
             {
-                throw new FileNotFoundException("XSD file not found");
+                throw e;
             }
 
             settings.ValidationType = ValidationType.Schema;
diff --git a/src/Core/WinSWCore/WinSWCore.csproj b/src/Core/WinSWCore/WinSWCore.csproj
index f36eb56..6bfba5a 100644
--- a/src/Core/WinSWCore/WinSWCore.csproj
+++ b/src/Core/WinSWCore/WinSWCore.csproj
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@
     <SignAssembly>true</SignAssembly>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <None Remove="XMLSchema.xsd" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
   <ItemGroup>
     <PackageReference Include="log4net" Version="2.0.8" />
   </ItemGroup>
@@ -44,4 +48,8 @@
     <PackageReference Include="SharpZipLib" Version="0.86.0" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <EmbeddedResource Include="XMLSchema.xsd" />
+  </ItemGroup>
+
 </Project>
diff --git a/src/Core/WinSWCore/XMLSchema.xsd b/src/Core/WinSWCore/XMLSchema.xsd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..26b3f0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Core/WinSWCore/XMLSchema.xsd
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"
+targetNamespace="https://www.w3schools.com"
+xmlns="https://www.w3schools.com"
+elementFormDefault="qualified">
+
+  <xs:element name="service">
+    <xs:complexType>
+      <xs:sequence>
+        <xs:element name="id" type="xs:string"/>
+        <xs:element name="name" type="xs:string"/>
+        <xs:element name="description" type="xs:string"/>
+        <xs:element name="executable" type="xs:string"/>
+      </xs:sequence>
+    </xs:complexType>
+  </xs:element>
+
+</xs:schema>
\ No newline at end of file