diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 78652a1..41be321 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -3,6 +3,16 @@ Changelog
 +++++++++
 
 
+Unreleased
+==========
+
+- Add schema validation for ``build-system`` table to check conformity
+  with PEP 517 and PEP 518 (`PR #365`_, Fixes `#364`_)
+
+.. _PR #365: https://github.com/pypa/build/pull/365
+.. _#364: https://github.com/pypa/build/issues/364
+
+
 0.7.0 (16-09-2021)
 ==================
 
diff --git a/src/build/__init__.py b/src/build/__init__.py
index 9b43981..853a122 100644
--- a/src/build/__init__.py
+++ b/src/build/__init__.py
@@ -94,12 +94,33 @@ class BuildBackendException(Exception):
         return f'Backend operation failed: {self.exception!r}'
 
 
+class BuildSystemTableValidationError(BuildException):
+    """
+    Exception raised when the ``[build-system]`` table in pyproject.toml is invalid.
+    """
+
+    def __str__(self) -> str:
+        return f'Failed to validate `build-system` in pyproject.toml: {self.args[0]}'
+
+
 class TypoWarning(Warning):
     """
     Warning raised when a potential typo is found
     """
 
 
+@contextlib.contextmanager
+def _working_directory(path: str) -> Iterator[None]:
+    current = os.getcwd()
+
+    os.chdir(path)
+
+    try:
+        yield
+    finally:
+        os.chdir(current)
+
+
 def _validate_source_directory(srcdir: str) -> None:
     if not os.path.isdir(srcdir):
         raise BuildException(f'Source {srcdir} is not a directory')
@@ -153,25 +174,51 @@ def check_dependency(
 
 
 def _find_typo(dictionary: Mapping[str, str], expected: str) -> None:
-    if expected not in dictionary:
-        for obj in dictionary:
-            if difflib.SequenceMatcher(None, expected, obj).ratio() >= 0.8:
-                warnings.warn(
-                    f"Found '{obj}' in pyproject.toml, did you mean '{expected}'?",
-                    TypoWarning,
-                )
+    for obj in dictionary:
+        if difflib.SequenceMatcher(None, expected, obj).ratio() >= 0.8:
+            warnings.warn(
+                f"Found '{obj}' in pyproject.toml, did you mean '{expected}'?",
+                TypoWarning,
+            )
 
 
-@contextlib.contextmanager
-def _working_directory(path: str) -> Iterator[None]:
-    current = os.getcwd()
+def _parse_build_system_table(pyproject_toml: Mapping[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+    # If pyproject.toml is missing (per PEP 517) or [build-system] is missing
+    # (per PEP 518), use default values
+    if 'build-system' not in pyproject_toml:
+        _find_typo(pyproject_toml, 'build-system')
+        return _DEFAULT_BACKEND
 
-    os.chdir(path)
+    build_system_table = dict(pyproject_toml['build-system'])
 
-    try:
-        yield
-    finally:
-        os.chdir(current)
+    # If [build-system] is present, it must have a ``requires`` field (per PEP 518)
+    if 'requires' not in build_system_table:
+        _find_typo(build_system_table, 'requires')
+        raise BuildSystemTableValidationError('`requires` is a required property')
+    elif not isinstance(build_system_table['requires'], list) or not all(
+        isinstance(i, str) for i in build_system_table['requires']
+    ):
+        raise BuildSystemTableValidationError('`requires` must be an array of strings')
+
+    if 'build-backend' not in build_system_table:
+        _find_typo(build_system_table, 'build-backend')
+        # If ``build-backend`` is missing, inject the legacy setuptools backend
+        # but leave ``requires`` intact to emulate pip
+        build_system_table['build-backend'] = _DEFAULT_BACKEND['build-backend']
+    elif not isinstance(build_system_table['build-backend'], str):
+        raise BuildSystemTableValidationError('`build-backend` must be a string')
+
+    if 'backend-path' in build_system_table and (
+        not isinstance(build_system_table['backend-path'], list)
+        or not all(isinstance(i, str) for i in build_system_table['backend-path'])
+    ):
+        raise BuildSystemTableValidationError('`backend-path` must be an array of strings')
+
+    unknown_props = build_system_table.keys() - {'requires', 'build-backend', 'backend-path'}
+    if unknown_props:
+        raise BuildSystemTableValidationError(f'Unknown properties: {", ".join(unknown_props)}')
+
+    return build_system_table
 
 
 class ProjectBuilder:
@@ -219,23 +266,7 @@ class ProjectBuilder:
         except TOMLDecodeError as e:
             raise BuildException(f'Failed to parse {spec_file}: {e} ')
 
-        build_system = spec.get('build-system')
-        # if pyproject.toml is missing (per PEP 517) or [build-system] is missing (per PEP 518),
-        # use default values.
-        if build_system is None:
-            _find_typo(spec, 'build-system')
-            build_system = _DEFAULT_BACKEND
-        # if [build-system] is present, it must have a ``requires`` field (per PEP 518).
-        elif 'requires' not in build_system:
-            _find_typo(build_system, 'requires')
-            raise BuildException(f"Missing 'build-system.requires' in {spec_file}")
-        # if ``build-backend`` is missing, inject the legacy setuptools backend
-        # but leave ``requires`` alone to emulate pip.
-        elif 'build-backend' not in build_system:
-            _find_typo(build_system, 'build-backend')
-            build_system['build-backend'] = _DEFAULT_BACKEND['build-backend']
-
-        self._build_system = build_system
+        self._build_system = _parse_build_system_table(spec)
         self._backend = self._build_system['build-backend']
         self._scripts_dir = scripts_dir
         self._hook_runner = runner

diff --git a/tests/test_projectbuilder.py b/tests/test_projectbuilder.py
index c61871e..221897d 100644
--- a/tests/test_projectbuilder.py
+++ b/tests/test_projectbuilder.py
@@ -570,4 +570,63 @@ def test_log(mocker, caplog, test_flit_path):
         ('INFO', 'something'),
     ]
     if sys.version_info >= (3, 8):  # stacklevel
-        assert [(record.lineno) for record in caplog.records] == [305, 305, 338, 368, 368, 562]
+        assert caplog.records[-1].lineno == 562
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ('pyproject_toml', 'parse_output'),
+    [
+        (
+            {'build-system': {'requires': ['foo']}},
+            {'requires': ['foo'], 'build-backend': 'setuptools.build_meta:__legacy__'},
+        ),
+        (
+            {'build-system': {'requires': ['foo'], 'build-backend': 'bar'}},
+            {'requires': ['foo'], 'build-backend': 'bar'},
+        ),
+        (
+            {'build-system': {'requires': ['foo'], 'build-backend': 'bar', 'backend-path': ['baz']}},
+            {'requires': ['foo'], 'build-backend': 'bar', 'backend-path': ['baz']},
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_parse_valid_build_system_table_type(pyproject_toml, parse_output):
+    assert build._parse_build_system_table(pyproject_toml) == parse_output
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    ('pyproject_toml', 'error_message'),
+    [
+        (
+            {'build-system': {}},
+            '`requires` is a required property',
+        ),
+        (
+            {'build-system': {'requires': 'not an array'}},
+            '`requires` must be an array of strings',
+        ),
+        (
+            {'build-system': {'requires': [1]}},
+            '`requires` must be an array of strings',
+        ),
+        (
+            {'build-system': {'requires': ['foo'], 'build-backend': ['not a string']}},
+            '`build-backend` must be a string',
+        ),
+        (
+            {'build-system': {'requires': ['foo'], 'backend-path': 'not an array'}},
+            '`backend-path` must be an array of strings',
+        ),
+        (
+            {'build-system': {'requires': ['foo'], 'backend-path': [1]}},
+            '`backend-path` must be an array of strings',
+        ),
+        (
+            {'build-system': {'requires': ['foo'], 'unknown-prop': False}},
+            'Unknown properties: unknown-prop',
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_parse_invalid_build_system_table_type(pyproject_toml, error_message):
+    with pytest.raises(build.BuildSystemTableValidationError, match=error_message):
+        build._parse_build_system_table(pyproject_toml)

Validate build-system table schema
I just spend a bunch of time debugging an error due to me mistakenly setting `build-backend = ['something']` in the `build-system` table.

We should verify the schema (types) and provide a helpful error message if something is wrong.

https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0518/#build-system-table
https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0518/#json-schema
tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_parse_valid_build_system_table_type[pyproject_toml0-parse_output0] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_parse_valid_build_system_table_type[pyproject_toml1-parse_output1] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_parse_valid_build_system_table_type[pyproject_toml2-parse_output2] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_parse_invalid_build_system_table_type[pyproject_toml0-`requires` tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_parse_invalid_build_system_table_type[pyproject_toml1-`requires` tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_parse_invalid_build_system_table_type[pyproject_toml2-`requires` tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_parse_invalid_build_system_table_type[pyproject_toml3-`build-backend` tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_parse_invalid_build_system_table_type[pyproject_toml4-`backend-path` tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_parse_invalid_build_system_table_type[pyproject_toml5-`backend-path` tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_parse_invalid_build_system_table_type[pyproject_toml6-Unknown
tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[extras_dep-None] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[missing_dep-expected1] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[requireless_dep-None] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[extras_dep[undefined_extra]-None] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[extras_dep[extra_without_associated_deps]-None] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[extras_dep[extra_with_unmet_deps]-expected5] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[extras_dep[recursive_extra_with_unmet_deps]-expected6] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[extras_dep[extra_with_met_deps]-None] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[missing_dep; tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[extras_dep tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[extras_dep[extra_without_associated_deps] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependency[prerelease_dep tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_bad_project tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_python_executable[something] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_python_executable[something_else] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_get_requires_for_build_missing_backend[wheel] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_get_requires_for_build_missing_backend[sdist] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_get_requires_for_build_missing_optional_hooks[wheel] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_get_requires_for_build_missing_optional_hooks[sdist] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_build_missing_backend[wheel] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_build_missing_backend[sdist] tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_check_dependencies tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_working_directory tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_working_directory_exc_is_not_transformed tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_build tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_default_backend tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_missing_backend tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_missing_requires tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_build_system_typo tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_missing_outdir tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_relative_outdir tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_build_not_dir_outdir tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_build_with_dep_on_console_script tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_prepare tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_prepare_no_hook tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_prepare_error tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_prepare_not_dir_outdir tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_no_outdir_single tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_no_outdir_multiple tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_runner_user_specified tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_metadata_path_legacy tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_metadata_invalid_wheel tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_toml_instead_of_tomli tests/test_projectbuilder.py::test_log