diff --git a/src/json-schema.hpp b/src/json-schema.hpp
index df088da..3bd319a 100644
--- a/src/json-schema.hpp
+++ b/src/json-schema.hpp
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ class JSON_SCHEMA_VALIDATOR_API json_validator
 public:
 	json_validator(schema_loader = nullptr, format_checker = nullptr);
 	json_validator(json_validator &&);
+	json_validator(const json &, schema_loader = nullptr, format_checker = nullptr);
 	~json_validator();
 	json_validator &operator=(json_validator &&);
 
diff --git a/src/json-validator.cpp b/src/json-validator.cpp
index 8f6526b..b28d326 100644
--- a/src/json-validator.cpp
+++ b/src/json-validator.cpp
@@ -1123,6 +1123,12 @@ json_validator::json_validator(schema_loader loader,
 {
 }
 
+json_validator::json_validator(const json &schema, schema_loader loader, format_checker format)
+    : json_validator(loader, format)
+{
+	set_root_schema(schema);
+}
+
 // move constructor, destructor and move assignment operator can be defaulted here
 // where root_schema is a complete type
 json_validator::json_validator(json_validator &&) = default;
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index b0ef6f5..5c0d805 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -30,3 +30,7 @@ add_test(NAME errors COMMAND errors)
 add_executable(issue-70 issue-70.cpp)
 target_link_libraries(issue-70 json-schema-validator)
 add_test(NAME issue-70 COMMAND issue-70)
+
+add_executable(issue-70-root-schema-constructor issue-70-root-schema-constructor.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(issue-70-root-schema-constructor json-schema-validator)
+add_test(NAME issue-70-root-schema-constructor COMMAND issue-70-root-schema-constructor)
diff --git a/test/issue-70-root-schema-constructor.cpp b/test/issue-70-root-schema-constructor.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..02dc94f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/issue-70-root-schema-constructor.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+#include <json-schema.hpp>
+
+#include <iostream>
+
+static int error_count;
+
+#define EXPECT_EQ(a, b)                                              \
+	do {                                                             \
+		if (a != b) {                                                \
+			std::cerr << "Failed: '" << a << "' != '" << b << "'\n"; \
+			error_count++;                                           \
+		}                                                            \
+	} while (0)
+
+using nlohmann::json;
+using nlohmann::json_schema::json_validator;
+
+namespace
+{
+
+// The schema is defined based upon a string literal
+static json person_schema = R"(
+{
+    "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
+    "title": "A person",
+    "properties": {
+        "name": {
+            "description": "Name",
+            "type": "string"
+        },
+        "age": {
+            "description": "Age of the person",
+            "type": "number",
+            "minimum": 2,
+            "maximum": 200
+        },
+        "phones": {
+            "type": "array",
+            "items": {
+                 "type": "number"
+            }
+        }
+    },
+    "required": [
+                 "name",
+                 "age"
+                 ],
+    "additionalProperties": false,
+    "type": "object"
+})"_json;
+
+class store_ptr_err_handler : public nlohmann::json_schema::basic_error_handler
+{
+	void error(const nlohmann::json::json_pointer &ptr, const json &instance, const std::string &message) override
+	{
+		nlohmann::json_schema::basic_error_handler::error(ptr, instance, message);
+		std::cerr << "ERROR: '" << ptr << "' - '" << instance << "': " << message << "\n";
+		failed_pointers.push_back(ptr);
+	}
+
+public:
+	std::vector<nlohmann::json::json_pointer> failed_pointers;
+
+	void reset() override
+	{
+		nlohmann::json_schema::basic_error_handler::reset();
+		failed_pointers.clear();
+	}
+};
+
+} // namespace
+
+static json_validator validator(person_schema);
+
+int main(void)
+{
+	store_ptr_err_handler err;
+
+	validator.validate({{"age", 42}, {"name", "John"}}, err); // OK
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers.size(), 0);
+	err.reset();
+
+	validator.validate({{"age", 42}}, err); // no name
+
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers.size(), 1);
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers[0].to_string(), "");
+	err.reset();
+
+	validator.validate({{"street", "Boulevard"}}, err); // no name and no age
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers.size(), 3);
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers[0].to_string(), "");
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers[1].to_string(), "");
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers[2].to_string(), "");
+	err.reset();
+
+	validator.validate({{"age", 42}, {"name", 12}}, err); // name must be a string
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers.size(), 1);
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers[0].to_string(), "/name");
+	err.reset();
+
+	validator.validate({
+	                       {"age", 42},
+	                       {"name", "John"},
+	                       {"phones", {1234, "223"}},
+	                   },
+	                   err); // name must be a string
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers.size(), 1);
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers[0].to_string(), "/phones/1");
+	err.reset();
+
+	validator.validate({
+	                       {"age", 42},
+	                       {"name", "John"},
+	                       {"phones", {0}},
+						   {"post-code", 12345},
+	                   },
+	                   err); // name must be a string
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers.size(), 1);
+	EXPECT_EQ(err.failed_pointers[0].to_string(), "");
+	err.reset();
+
+	return error_count;
+}