diff --git a/packages/vm/src/compatibility.rs b/packages/vm/src/compatibility.rs
index 9cfdc4dfe1..e11300d188 100644
--- a/packages/vm/src/compatibility.rs
+++ b/packages/vm/src/compatibility.rs
@@ -5,15 +5,14 @@ use wasmer::wasmparser::Export;
 use wasmer::wasmparser::Import;
 use wasmer::wasmparser::ImportSectionReader;
 use wasmer::wasmparser::MemorySectionReader;
-use wasmer::wasmparser::Parser;
 use wasmer::wasmparser::Payload;
 use wasmer::wasmparser::TableSectionReader;
 use wasmer::wasmparser::TypeRef;
-use wasmer::wasmparser::Validator;
 
 use crate::capabilities::required_capabilities_from_module;
 use crate::errors::{VmError, VmResult};
 use crate::limited::LimitedDisplay;
+use crate::static_analysis::validate_wasm;
 use crate::static_analysis::ExportInfo;
 
 /// Lists all imports we provide upon instantiating the instance in Instance::from_module()
@@ -81,15 +80,8 @@ const MAX_IMPORTS: u32 = 100;
 
 /// Checks if the data is valid wasm and compatibility with the CosmWasm API (imports and exports)
 pub fn check_wasm(wasm_code: &[u8], available_capabilities: &HashSet<String>) -> VmResult<()> {
-    let parsed = Parser::new(0).parse_all(wasm_code);
-    let mut validator = Validator::new();
-    // TODO: some of the validator checks are duplicated in our checks below
-
     let mut memory_section: Option<MemorySectionReader<'_>> = None;
-    for payload in parsed {
-        let payload = payload?;
-        validator.payload(&payload)?;
-
+    validate_wasm(wasm_code, |payload| {
         match payload {
             Payload::TableSection(t) => check_wasm_tables(t)?,
             Payload::MemorySection(m) => memory_section = Some(m),
@@ -102,7 +94,9 @@ pub fn check_wasm(wasm_code: &[u8], available_capabilities: &HashSet<String>) ->
             Payload::ImportSection(i) => check_wasm_imports(i, SUPPORTED_IMPORTS)?,
             _ => {}
         }
-    }
+        Ok(())
+    })?;
+    // we want to fail if there is no memory section, so this check is delayed until the end
     check_wasm_memories(memory_section)?;
 
     Ok(())
diff --git a/packages/vm/src/static_analysis.rs b/packages/vm/src/static_analysis.rs
index ddf55195e2..74a2dfe578 100644
--- a/packages/vm/src/static_analysis.rs
+++ b/packages/vm/src/static_analysis.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 use std::collections::HashSet;
 
-use wasmer::wasmparser::{Export, ExportSectionReader, ExternalKind};
+use wasmer::wasmparser::{
+    Export, ExportSectionReader, ExternalKind, Parser, Payload, ValidPayload, Validator,
+    WasmFeatures,
+};
 
 use crate::errors::VmResult;
 
@@ -13,29 +16,56 @@ pub const REQUIRED_IBC_EXPORTS: &[&str] = &[
     "ibc_packet_timeout",
 ];
 
+/// Validates the given wasm code and calls the callback for each payload.
+/// "Validates" in this case refers to general WebAssembly validation, not specific to CosmWasm.
+pub fn validate_wasm<'a>(
+    wasm_code: &'a [u8],
+    mut handle_payload: impl FnMut(Payload<'a>) -> VmResult<()>,
+) -> VmResult<()> {
+    let mut validator = Validator::new_with_features(WasmFeatures {
+        mutable_global: false,
+        saturating_float_to_int: false,
+        sign_extension: true,
+        reference_types: true,
+        multi_value: false,
+        bulk_memory: false,
+        component_model: false,
+        simd: false,
+        relaxed_simd: false,
+        threads: false,
+        tail_call: false,
+        deterministic_only: true,
+        multi_memory: false,
+        exceptions: false,
+        memory64: false,
+        extended_const: false,
+    });
+
+    for p in Parser::new(0).parse_all(wasm_code) {
+        let p = p?;
+        // validate the payload
+        if let ValidPayload::Func(fv, body) = validator.payload(&p)? {
+            // also validate function bodies
+            fv.into_validator(Default::default()).validate(&body)?;
+        }
+        // tell caller about the payload
+        handle_payload(p)?;
+    }
+
+    Ok(())
+}
+
 /// A small helper macro to validate the wasm module and extract a reader for a specific section.
 macro_rules! extract_reader {
     ($wasm_code: expr, $payload: ident, $t: ty) => {{
-        fn extract(wasm_code: &[u8]) -> crate::VmResult<Option<$t>> {
-            use wasmer::wasmparser::{Parser, Payload, ValidPayload, Validator};
-
-            let mut validator = Validator::new();
-            let parser = Parser::new(0);
-
+        fn extract(wasm_code: &[u8]) -> $crate::VmResult<Option<$t>> {
             let mut value = None;
-            for p in parser.parse_all(wasm_code) {
-                let p = p?;
-                // validate the payload
-                if let ValidPayload::Func(mut fv, body) = validator.payload(&p)? {
-                    // also validate function bodies
-                    fv.validate(&body)?;
-                }
-                if let Payload::$payload(e) = p {
-                    // do not return immediately, as we want to validate the entire module
-                    value = Some(e);
+            $crate::static_analysis::validate_wasm(wasm_code, |p| {
+                if let Payload::$payload(p) = p {
+                    value = Some(p);
                 }
-            }
-
+                Ok(())
+            })?;
             Ok(value)
         }