diff --git a/src/simdb/cli/commands/simulation.py b/src/simdb/cli/commands/simulation.py
index 59bd0bdd..d7327c2a 100644
--- a/src/simdb/cli/commands/simulation.py
+++ b/src/simdb/cli/commands/simulation.py
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ def simulation_push(
     schemas = api.get_validation_schemas()
     try:
         for schema in schemas:
-            Validator(schema).validate(simulation)
+            Validator(schema, config).validate(simulation)
     except ValidationError as err:
         raise click.ClickException(f"Simulation does not validate: {err}") from err
 
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ def simulation_validate(
 
     click.echo("validating metadata ... ", nl=False)
     for schema in schemas:
-        Validator(schema).validate(simulation)
+        Validator(schema, config).validate(simulation)
 
     ids_list = []
     for file in chain(simulation.inputs, simulation.outputs):
diff --git a/src/simdb/cli/remote_api.py b/src/simdb/cli/remote_api.py
index 99f87363..9b569b62 100644
--- a/src/simdb/cli/remote_api.py
+++ b/src/simdb/cli/remote_api.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@
 from .manifest import DataType
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from simdb.database.models import File, Simulation, Watcher
+    from simdb.database.models import File, Watcher
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING or "sphinx" in sys.modules:
     # Only importing these for type checking and documentation generation in order to
diff --git a/src/simdb/database/models/simulation.py b/src/simdb/database/models/simulation.py
index ede09fdf..57db96f1 100644
--- a/src/simdb/database/models/simulation.py
+++ b/src/simdb/database/models/simulation.py
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ def meta(self) -> List[MetaDataWrapper]:
         Returns a list of MetaDataWrapper objects from the JSON metadata.
         """
         meta_dict = self._get_metadata_dict()
-        return [MetaDataWrapper(k, v) for k, v in meta_dict.items()]
+        return list(itertools.starmap(MetaDataWrapper, meta_dict.items()))
 
     def _get_metadata_dict(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         if self._metadata is None:
diff --git a/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1/simulations.py b/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1/simulations.py
index 3a56c9cb..c22acfa4 100644
--- a/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1/simulations.py
+++ b/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1/simulations.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ def _update_simulation_status(
 def _validate(simulation, user) -> Dict:
     schema = Validator.validation_schema()
     try:
-        Validator(schema).validate(simulation)
+        Validator(schema, current_app.simdb_config).validate(simulation)
         _update_simulation_status(simulation, models_sim.Simulation.Status.PASSED, user)
         return {
             "passed": True,
diff --git a/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1_1/simulations.py b/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1_1/simulations.py
index 03c956b9..105b92e9 100644
--- a/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1_1/simulations.py
+++ b/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1_1/simulations.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def _validate(simulation, user) -> Dict:
     schemas = Validator.validation_schemas(current_app.simdb_config, simulation)
     try:
         for schema in schemas:
-            Validator(schema).validate(simulation)
+            Validator(schema, current_app.simdb_config).validate(simulation)
             _update_simulation_status(
                 simulation, models_sim.Simulation.Status.PASSED, user
             )
diff --git a/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1_2/simulations.py b/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1_2/simulations.py
index a8594490..b55719af 100644
--- a/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1_2/simulations.py
+++ b/src/simdb/remote/apis/v1_2/simulations.py
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ def _validate(simulation, user) -> ValidationResult:
     schemas = Validator.validation_schemas(current_app.simdb_config, simulation)
     try:
         for schema in schemas:
-            Validator(schema).validate(simulation)
+            Validator(schema, current_app.simdb_config).validate(simulation)
             _update_simulation_status(
                 simulation, models_sim.Simulation.Status.PASSED, user
             )
diff --git a/src/simdb/validation/file/ids_validator.py b/src/simdb/validation/file/ids_validator.py
index 07452a41..9a7714bf 100644
--- a/src/simdb/validation/file/ids_validator.py
+++ b/src/simdb/validation/file/ids_validator.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def configure(self, arguments: dict):
             .split(",")
         ]
 
-        ### Define logic for rule_filter
+        # Define logic for rule_filter
         list_of_filter_names = (
             arguments.get("rule_filter_name", "").strip('"').split(",")
         )
diff --git a/src/simdb/validation/validator.py b/src/simdb/validation/validator.py
index f9a3bb2b..3decf052 100644
--- a/src/simdb/validation/validator.py
+++ b/src/simdb/validation/validator.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import re
 import warnings
+from importlib import import_module
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional, Union, cast
 
@@ -200,9 +201,45 @@ def validation_schemas(
 
         return schemas
 
-    def __init__(self, schema: Dict):
+    def _custom_validation_ext(self, config: Config):
+
+        module_path = config.get_option("validation.custom_validator", default=None)
+        if module_path is None:
+            return CustomValidator
+
+        if not isinstance(module_path, str):
+            raise TypeError(
+                "Expected 'custom_validator config value' to be a string, "
+                f"got {type(module_path).__name__}"
+            )
+
+        if "." not in module_path:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Invalid validator path '{module_path}'."
+                "Expected format: 'package.module.ClassName'"
+            )
+
+        module_name, class_name = module_path.rsplit(".", 1)
+
+        try:
+            module = import_module(module_name)
+        except ModuleNotFoundError as err:
+            raise ImportError(
+                f"Unable to import module '{module_name}': {err}. "
+                "Please ensure the necessary validation package is installed"
+            ) from err
+        try:
+            validation_cls = getattr(module, class_name)
+        except AttributeError as err:
+            raise AttributeError(
+                f"Module '{module_name}' does not have classor attribute '{class_name}'"
+            ) from err
+        return validation_cls
+
+    def __init__(self, schema: Dict, config: Config):
         try:
-            self._validator = CustomValidator(schema)
+            validation_cls = self._custom_validation_ext(config)
+            self._validator = validation_cls(schema)
             self._validator.allow_unknown = True
         except cerberus.SchemaError as err:
             raise LoadError("Failed to parse validation schema") from err
diff --git a/tests/remote/api/conftest.py b/tests/remote/api/conftest.py
index 4310350c..da2c7b17 100644
--- a/tests/remote/api/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/remote/api/conftest.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import base64
-import importlib
 import importlib.util
 import os
 import shutil
diff --git a/tests/remote/test_authentication.py b/tests/remote/test_authentication.py
index d62f56a3..b5522092 100644
--- a/tests/remote/test_authentication.py
+++ b/tests/remote/test_authentication.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import importlib
 import importlib.util
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, ClassVar, cast
 from unittest import mock