diff --git a/packages/backend/src/plugins/catalog.ts b/packages/backend/src/plugins/catalog.ts
index e18d021395..687fd9157a 100644
--- a/packages/backend/src/plugins/catalog.ts
+++ b/packages/backend/src/plugins/catalog.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export default async function ({ logger, database }: PluginEnvironment) {
   );
 
   const entitiesCatalog = new DatabaseEntitiesCatalog(db);
-  const locationsCatalog = new DatabaseLocationsCatalog(db);
+  const locationsCatalog = new DatabaseLocationsCatalog(db, reader);
 
   return await createRouter({ entitiesCatalog, locationsCatalog, logger });
 }
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseLocationsCatalog.test.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseLocationsCatalog.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0181b7fc28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseLocationsCatalog.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020 Spotify AB
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+import { DatabaseLocationsCatalog } from './DatabaseLocationsCatalog';
+import knex from 'knex';
+import path from 'path';
+
+import { Database } from '../database';
+import { ReaderOutput } from '../ingestion/types';
+import { getVoidLogger } from '@backstage/backend-common';
+
+describe('DatabaseLocationsCatalog', () => {
+  const database = knex({
+    client: 'sqlite3',
+    connection: ':memory:',
+    useNullAsDefault: true,
+  });
+  database.client.pool.on('createSuccess', (_eventId: any, resource: any) => {
+    resource.run('PRAGMA foreign_keys = ON', () => {});
+  });
+  let db: Database;
+  let catalog: DatabaseLocationsCatalog;
+
+  const mockLocationReader = {
+    read: async (type: string, target: string): Promise<ReaderOutput[]> => {
+      if (type !== 'valid_type') {
+        throw new Error(`Unknown location type ${type}`);
+      }
+      if (target === 'valid_target') {
+        return Promise.resolve([{ type: 'data', data: {} }]);
+      }
+      throw new Error(
+        `Can't read location at ${target} with error: Something is broken`,
+      );
+    },
+  };
+
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    await database.migrate.latest({
+      directory: path.resolve(__dirname, '../database/migrations'),
+      loadExtensions: ['.ts'],
+    });
+    db = new Database(database, getVoidLogger());
+    catalog = new DatabaseLocationsCatalog(db, mockLocationReader);
+  });
+
+  it('resolves to location with id', async () => {
+    return expect(
+      catalog.addLocation({ type: 'valid_type', target: 'valid_target' }),
+    ).resolves.toEqual({
+      id: expect.anything(),
+      type: 'valid_type',
+      target: 'valid_target',
+    });
+  });
+  it('rejects for invalid type', async () => {
+    const type = 'invalid_type';
+    return expect(
+      catalog.addLocation({ type, target: 'valid_target' }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/Unknown location type/);
+  });
+  it('rejects for unreadable target ', async () => {
+    const target = 'invalid_target';
+    return expect(
+      catalog.addLocation({ type: 'valid_type', target }),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(
+      `Can't read location at ${target} with error: Something is broken`,
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseLocationsCatalog.ts b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseLocationsCatalog.ts
index e9f1512074..3f5739eed0 100644
--- a/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseLocationsCatalog.ts
+++ b/plugins/catalog-backend/src/catalog/DatabaseLocationsCatalog.ts
@@ -16,11 +16,24 @@
 
 import { Database } from '../database';
 import { AddLocation, Location, LocationsCatalog } from './types';
+import { LocationReader } from '../ingestion';
 
 export class DatabaseLocationsCatalog implements LocationsCatalog {
-  constructor(private readonly database: Database) {}
+  constructor(
+    private readonly database: Database,
+    private readonly reader: LocationReader,
+  ) {}
 
   async addLocation(location: AddLocation): Promise<Location> {
+    const outputs = await this.reader.read(location.type, location.target);
+    outputs.forEach(output => {
+      if (output.type === 'error') {
+        throw new Error(
+          `Can't read location at ${location.target}, ${output.error}`,
+        );
+      }
+    });
+
     const added = await this.database.addLocation(location);
     return added;
   }