diff --git a/misc/config_tools/configurator/packages/configurator/src/lib/acrn.ts b/misc/config_tools/configurator/packages/configurator/src/lib/acrn.ts
index 1eee4e1ea..286ab6003 100644
--- a/misc/config_tools/configurator/packages/configurator/src/lib/acrn.ts
+++ b/misc/config_tools/configurator/packages/configurator/src/lib/acrn.ts
@@ -129,7 +129,8 @@ class Configurator {
         return this.readFile(path).then((fileContent) => {
             let syntactical_errors = this.pythonObject.validateScenarioStructure(fileContent);
             if (syntactical_errors !== "") {
-                throw Error("The file has broken structure.\n" + syntactical_errors);
+                throw Error("The loaded file does not look like a valid ACRN scenario XML.\n\n" +
+                    "If that file is used with ACRN 2.x, try upgrading it following the instructions at https://projectacrn.github.io/latest/tutorials/upgrading_configuration.html.\n");
             }
             return this.pythonObject.loadScenario(fileContent)
         })
diff --git a/misc/config_tools/configurator/pyodide/validateScenarioStructure.py b/misc/config_tools/configurator/pyodide/validateScenarioStructure.py
index b32c8ed32..abab7fad5 100644
--- a/misc/config_tools/configurator/pyodide/validateScenarioStructure.py
+++ b/misc/config_tools/configurator/pyodide/validateScenarioStructure.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from scenario_config.xml_loader import XMLLoadStage
 
 from .pyodide import (
     convert_result, write_temp_file,
-    nuc11_scenario, scenario_xml_schema_path, datachecks_xml_schema_path
+    nuc11_scenario, schema_dir
 )
 
 
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ def main(scenario):
 
             obj = PipelineObject(
                 scenario_path=scenario_file_path,
-                schema_path=scenario_xml_schema_path,
+                schema_path=schema_dir / 'scenario_structure.xsd',
                 datachecks_path=None
             )
             pipeline.run(obj)
diff --git a/misc/config_tools/schema/scenario_structure.xsd b/misc/config_tools/schema/scenario_structure.xsd
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3227eb921
--- /dev/null
+++ b/misc/config_tools/schema/scenario_structure.xsd
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
+  <!-- This is a tailored version of the schema of scenario XML files and is used by the configurator to ensure files
+       from users have the basic structure of a valid scenario XML. We do not use the full-fledged schema here because
+       users are allowed to save a scenario XML with some data inconsistencies. -->
+  <xs:element name="acrn-config">
+    <xs:complexType>
+      <xs:all>
+        <xs:element name="hv">
+          <xs:complexType>
+            <xs:all>
+              <xs:any maxOccurs="unbounded" processContents="skip" />
+            </xs:all>
+          </xs:complexType>
+        </xs:element>
+        <xs:element name="vm" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
+          <xs:complexType>
+            <xs:all>
+              <xs:element name="load_order" type="xs:string" />
+              <xs:any maxOccurs="unbounded" processContents="skip" />
+            </xs:all>
+            <xs:attribute name="id" type="xs:integer" />
+          </xs:complexType>
+        </xs:element>
+      </xs:all>
+    </xs:complexType>
+  </xs:element>
+</xs:schema>
\ No newline at end of file