diff --git a/Source/cmPackageInfoReader.cxx b/Source/cmPackageInfoReader.cxx
index a5349cada7..0bb3e35e71 100644
--- a/Source/cmPackageInfoReader.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmPackageInfoReader.cxx
@@ -376,7 +376,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<cmPackageInfoReader> cmPackageInfoReader::Read(
   //   - the input is a JSON object
   //   - the input has a "cps_version" that we (in theory) know how to parse
   Json::Value data = ReadJson(path);
-  if (!data.isObject() || !CheckSchemaVersion(data)) {
+  if (!data.isObject() || (!parent && !CheckSchemaVersion(data))) {
     return nullptr;
   }
 
diff --git a/Tests/FindPackageCpsTest/cps/foo-relative@default.cps b/Tests/FindPackageCpsTest/cps/foo-relative@default.cps
index 19a55dd09f..c9e8d4f0c8 100644
--- a/Tests/FindPackageCpsTest/cps/foo-relative@default.cps
+++ b/Tests/FindPackageCpsTest/cps/foo-relative@default.cps
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 {
-  "cps_version": "0.13",
   "name": "Foo",
   "configuration": "default",
   "components": {