diff --git a/src/event/cloudevent.ts b/src/event/cloudevent.ts
index 0cab0dad..2cb571a7 100644
--- a/src/event/cloudevent.ts
+++ b/src/event/cloudevent.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import {
   CloudEventV1Attributes,
   CloudEventV1OptionalAttributes,
 } from "./interfaces";
-import { validateV1, validateV03 } from "./spec";
+import { validateCloudEvent } from "./spec";
 import { ValidationError, isBinary, asBase64, isValidType } from "./validation";
 import CONSTANTS from "../constants";
 import { isString } from "util";
@@ -174,12 +174,7 @@ export class CloudEvent implements CloudEventV1, CloudEventV03 {
    */
   public validate(): boolean {
     try {
-      if (this.specversion === Version.V1) {
-        return validateV1(this);
-      } else if (this.specversion === Version.V03) {
-        return validateV03(this);
-      }
-      throw new ValidationError("invalid payload");
+      return validateCloudEvent(this);
     } catch (e) {
       if (e instanceof ValidationError) {
         throw e;
diff --git a/src/event/spec.ts b/src/event/spec.ts
index afa75681..537b6432 100644
--- a/src/event/spec.ts
+++ b/src/event/spec.ts
@@ -3,24 +3,26 @@ import { ValidationError, isBase64 } from "./validation";
 
 import { CloudEventV1, CloudEventV03 } from "./interfaces";
 import { schemaV03, schemaV1 } from "./schemas";
+import { Version } from "./cloudevent";
 import CONSTANTS from "../constants";
 
 const ajv = new Ajv({ extendRefs: true });
 const isValidAgainstSchemaV1 = ajv.compile(schemaV1);
 const isValidAgainstSchemaV03 = ajv.compile(schemaV03);
 
-export function validateV1(event: CloudEventV1): boolean {
-  if (!isValidAgainstSchemaV1(event)) {
-    throw new ValidationError("invalid payload", isValidAgainstSchemaV1.errors);
-  }
-  return true;
-}
-
-export function validateV03(event: CloudEventV03): boolean {
-  if (!isValidAgainstSchemaV03(event)) {
-    throw new ValidationError("invalid payload", isValidAgainstSchemaV03.errors);
+export function validateCloudEvent(event: CloudEventV03 | CloudEventV1): boolean {
+  if (event.specversion === Version.V1) {
+    if (!isValidAgainstSchemaV1(event)) {
+      throw new ValidationError("invalid payload", isValidAgainstSchemaV1.errors);
+    }
+    return true;
+  } else if (event.specversion === Version.V03) {
+    if (!isValidAgainstSchemaV03(event)) {
+      throw new ValidationError("invalid payload", isValidAgainstSchemaV03.errors);
+    }
+    return checkDataContentEncoding(event);
   }
-  return checkDataContentEncoding(event);
+  return false;
 }
 
 function checkDataContentEncoding(event: CloudEventV03): boolean {
diff --git a/src/transport/http/binary_receiver.ts b/src/transport/http/binary_receiver.ts
index 9be2def0..aa027f2b 100644
--- a/src/transport/http/binary_receiver.ts
+++ b/src/transport/http/binary_receiver.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { CloudEvent, Version } from "../..";
 import { CloudEventV1, CloudEventV03 } from "../../event/interfaces";
-import { validateV1, validateV03 } from "../../event/spec";
+import { validateCloudEvent } from "../../event/spec";
 import { Headers, validate } from "./headers";
 import { v03binaryParsers, v1binaryParsers } from "./versions";
 import { parserByContentType, MappedParser } from "../../parsers";
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ export class BinaryHTTPReceiver {
     }
 
     const cloudevent = new CloudEvent({ ...eventObj, data: parsedPayload } as CloudEventV1 | CloudEventV03);
-    this.version === Version.V1 ? validateV1(cloudevent) : validateV03(cloudevent);
+    validateCloudEvent(cloudevent);
     return cloudevent;
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/transport/http/structured_receiver.ts b/src/transport/http/structured_receiver.ts
index 2450371e..ef9b3a34 100644
--- a/src/transport/http/structured_receiver.ts
+++ b/src/transport/http/structured_receiver.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { parserByContentType } from "../../parsers";
 import { v1structuredParsers, v03structuredParsers } from "./versions";
 import { isString, isBase64, ValidationError, isStringOrObjectOrThrow } from "../../event/validation";
 import { CloudEventV1, CloudEventV03 } from "../../event/interfaces";
-import { validateV1, validateV03 } from "../../event/spec";
+import { validateCloudEvent } from "../../event/spec";
 import CONSTANTS from "../../constants";
 
 /**
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ export class StructuredHTTPReceiver {
     const cloudevent = new CloudEvent(eventObj as CloudEventV1 | CloudEventV03);
 
     // Validates the event
-    this.version === Version.V1 ? validateV1(cloudevent) : validateV03(cloudevent);
+    validateCloudEvent(cloudevent);
     return cloudevent;
   }
 }