diff --git a/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py b/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py
index f2feb22f..52c70c13 100644
--- a/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py
+++ b/bigchaindb/common/schema/__init__.py
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ def _load_schema(name):
     return path, schema
 
 
+TX_SCHEMA_PATH, TX_SCHEMA = _load_schema('transaction')
+VOTE_SCHEMA_PATH, VOTE_SCHEMA = _load_schema('vote')
+
+
 def _validate_schema(schema, body):
     """ Validate data against a schema """
     try:
@@ -36,17 +40,11 @@ def _validate_schema(schema, body):
         raise SchemaValidationError(str(exc)) from exc
 
 
-TX_SCHEMA_PATH, TX_SCHEMA = _load_schema('transaction')
-
-
 def validate_transaction_schema(tx):
     """ Validate a transaction dict """
     _validate_schema(TX_SCHEMA, tx)
 
 
-VOTE_SCHEMA_PATH, VOTE_SCHEMA = _load_schema('vote')
-
-
 def validate_vote_schema(vote):
     """ Validate a vote dict """
     _validate_schema(VOTE_SCHEMA, vote)
diff --git a/tests/common/schema/test_schema.py b/tests/common/schema/test_schema.py
index 0bb89eb4..a7cc6891 100644
--- a/tests/common/schema/test_schema.py
+++ b/tests/common/schema/test_schema.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-from bigchaindb.common.schema import (TX_SCHEMA, VOTE_SCHEMA,
-                                      drop_schema_descriptions)
+from bigchaindb.common.schema import (
+    TX_SCHEMA, VOTE_SCHEMA, drop_schema_descriptions)
 
 
 def _test_additionalproperties(node, path=''):