diff --git a/pkg/core/object/fmt.go b/pkg/core/object/fmt.go
index c0e8102ed..7d1bfc9f0 100644
--- a/pkg/core/object/fmt.go
+++ b/pkg/core/object/fmt.go
@@ -35,14 +35,19 @@ func (v *FormatValidator) Validate(obj *Object) error {
 		return errNilCID
 	}
 
-	for ; obj.GetID() != nil; obj = NewFromSDK(obj.GetParent()) {
-		if err := v.validateSignatureKey(obj); err != nil {
-			return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not validate signature key", v)
-		}
+	if err := v.validateSignatureKey(obj); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not validate signature key", v)
+	}
 
-		if err := object.CheckHeaderVerificationFields(obj.SDK()); err != nil {
-			return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not validate header fields", v)
-		}
+	if err := object.CheckHeaderVerificationFields(obj.SDK()); err != nil {
+		return errors.Wrapf(err, "(%T) could not validate header fields", v)
+	}
+
+	par := NewFromSDK(obj.GetParent())
+
+	// validate parent object header
+	if par.GetID() != nil && len(obj.GetChildren()) == 0 {
+		return v.Validate(par)
 	}
 
 	return nil