diff --git a/ckanext/xloader/plugin.py b/ckanext/xloader/plugin.py
index 41e6f58e..982ff01c 100644
--- a/ckanext/xloader/plugin.py
+++ b/ckanext/xloader/plugin.py
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ def notify(self, entity, operation):
         # extension will call resource_patch and this method should
         # be called again. However, url_changed will not be in the entity
         # once Validation does the patch.
-        if 'validation' in toolkit.config.get('ckan.plugins', []) and \
+        if _is_validation_plugin_loaded() and \
         toolkit.asbool(toolkit.config.get('ckanext.xloader.requires_validation')):
             if entity.__dict__.get('extras', {}).get('validation_status', None) != 'success':
                 log.debug("Skipping xloading resource %s because "
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ def notify(self, entity, operation):
     # IResourceController
 
     def after_resource_create(self, context, resource_dict):
-        if 'validation' in toolkit.config.get('ckan.plugins', []) and \
+        if _is_validation_plugin_loaded() and \
         toolkit.asbool(toolkit.config.get('ckanext.xloader.requires_validation')) and \
         resource_dict.get('validation_status', None) != 'success':
             log.debug("Skipping xloading resource %s because "
@@ -246,3 +246,11 @@ def get_helpers(self):
             "xloader_status": xloader_helpers.xloader_status,
             "xloader_status_description": xloader_helpers.xloader_status_description,
         }
+
+
+def _is_validation_plugin_loaded():
+    try:
+        toolkit.get_action('resource_validation_show')
+    except KeyError:
+        return False
+    return True