diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 110f4c26..e1770998 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -21,7 +21,8 @@
     "@oclif/core": "^1.15.0",
     "@parcel/core": "^2.7.0",
     "@parcel/reporter-cli": "^2.7.0",
-    "ajv": "^6",
+    "ajv": "^8",
+    "ajv-formats": "^2.1.1",
     "chalk": "^4",
     "chokidar": "^3.5.2",
     "debug": "^4.1.1",
diff --git a/schema/config.schema.json b/schema/config.schema.json
index 1c6d4e71..552c93e8 100644
--- a/schema/config.schema.json
+++ b/schema/config.schema.json
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
                 },
                 "ims_org_id": {
                     "type": "string",
-                    "format": "email"
+                    "pattern": "^(\\w+)@(\\w+)"
                 }
             },
             "required": [ "id", "name", "ims_org_id" ]
diff --git a/src/lib/import-helper.js b/src/lib/import-helper.js
index f43acf4d..01694969 100644
--- a/src/lib/import-helper.js
+++ b/src/lib/import-helper.js
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ const inquirer = require('inquirer')
 const yaml = require('js-yaml')
 const hjson = require('hjson')
 const Ajv = require('ajv')
+const ajvAddFormats = require('ajv-formats')
 const { EOL } = require('os')
 
 const AIO_FILE = '.aio'
@@ -43,6 +44,7 @@ function validateConfig (configJson) {
   /* eslint-disable-next-line node/no-unpublished-require */
   const schema = require('../../schema/config.schema.json')
   const ajv = new Ajv({ allErrors: true })
+  ajvAddFormats(ajv)
   const validate = ajv.compile(schema)
 
   return { valid: validate(configJson), errors: validate.errors }
diff --git a/test/schema.test.js b/test/schema.test.js
index b36257c3..c855e96c 100644
--- a/test/schema.test.js
+++ b/test/schema.test.js
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
 const Ajv = require('ajv')
+const ajvAddFormats = require('ajv-formats')
 const schema = require('../schema/config.schema.json')
 
 test('validate success', () => {
   const ajv = new Ajv({ allErrors: true })
+  ajvAddFormats(ajv)
   const validate = ajv.compile(schema)
   const valid = validate(fixtureJson('valid.config.json'))
   expect(validate.errors).toEqual(null)
@@ -11,6 +13,7 @@ test('validate success', () => {
 
 test('validate failure', () => {
   const ajv = new Ajv({ allErrors: true })
+  ajvAddFormats(ajv)
   const validate = ajv.compile(schema)
   const valid = validate(fixtureJson('invalid.config.json'))
   // the 4 errors are the missing name properties, techacct migration to two new properties