diff --git a/rust2rpm/__init__.py b/rust2rpm/__init__.py
index 0c19e43..eb0a0c9 100644
--- a/rust2rpm/__init__.py
+++ b/rust2rpm/__init__.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ __all__ = ["licensing"]
 #   release of the last minor version.
 #
 # Only the major version is included in the header of generated spec files.
-__version__ = "25.1.0"
+__version__ = "26.0.0"
 
 TARGET_ARCHES = [
     "x86_64",
diff --git a/rust2rpm/conf.py b/rust2rpm/conf.py
index 4d0fb7b..9a67335 100644
--- a/rust2rpm/conf.py
+++ b/rust2rpm/conf.py
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ TOML_SCHEMA = {
                             },
                         },
                         "additionalProperties": False,
+                        "required": ["file", "number"],
                     },
                 },
                 # additional packaged files
@@ -457,7 +458,7 @@ class Source:
 
     @property
     def comments(self) -> list[str]:
-        return self._data["comments"]
+        return self._data.get("comments") or list()
 
     @property
     def whitespace(self) -> str: