diff --git a/winlogbeat/config/config.go b/winlogbeat/config/config.go
index c73cf52d8695..736dcd838142 100644
--- a/winlogbeat/config/config.go
+++ b/winlogbeat/config/config.go
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ func (s Settings) Validate() error {
 		"name", "refresh_topology_freq", "topology_expire", "geoip",
 		"queue_size", "bulk_queue_size", "max_procs",
 		"processors", "logging", "output", "path", "winlogbeat",
+		"dashboards",
 	}
 	sort.Strings(validKeys)
 
diff --git a/winlogbeat/config/config_test.go b/winlogbeat/config/config_test.go
index 0c39a2610387..2291bdb290fb 100644
--- a/winlogbeat/config/config_test.go
+++ b/winlogbeat/config/config_test.go
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func TestConfigValidate(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 				map[string]interface{}{"other": "value"},
 			},
-			"1 error: Invalid top-level key 'other' found. Valid keys are bulk_queue_size, " +
+			"1 error: Invalid top-level key 'other' found. Valid keys are bulk_queue_size, dashboards, " +
 				"fields, fields_under_root, geoip, logging, max_procs, " +
 				"name, output, path, processors, queue_size, refresh_topology_freq, tags, topology_expire, winlogbeat",
 		},