diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/uptime/common/runtime_types/ping/synthetics.ts b/x-pack/plugins/uptime/common/runtime_types/ping/synthetics.ts
index 040f0a83e84ab..59e15f2d9e9c3 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/uptime/common/runtime_types/ping/synthetics.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/uptime/common/runtime_types/ping/synthetics.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ export const JourneyStepType = t.intersection([
         lt: t.string,
       }),
     }),
-    observer: t.type({
+    observer: t.partial({
       geo: t.type({
         name: t.string,
       }),