diff --git a/act/schema/action_schema.json b/act/schema/action_schema.json
index 3b2ebdfe..9b1ac8dd 100644
--- a/act/schema/action_schema.json
+++ b/act/schema/action_schema.json
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@
         "steps",
         "job",
         "runner",
+        "vars",
         "env",
         "hashFiles(1,255)"
       ],
diff --git a/act/schema/schema_test.go b/act/schema/schema_test.go
index b9fd64e6..6c3b1a8b 100644
--- a/act/schema/schema_test.go
+++ b/act/schema/schema_test.go
@@ -139,7 +139,10 @@ inputs:
 runs:
   using: "composite"
   steps:
-    - run: echo "${{ github.action_path }}"
+    - run: |
+        echo "${{ github.action_path }}"
+      env:
+          MYVAR: ${{ vars.VARIABLE }}
 `), &node)
 	if !assert.NoError(t, err) {
 		return