diff --git a/item-spec/json-schema/item.json b/item-spec/json-schema/item.json
index ede4d62a..0511f432 100644
--- a/item-spec/json-schema/item.json
+++ b/item-spec/json-schema/item.json
@@ -204,6 +204,21 @@
               "title": "Link title",
               "type": "string"
             }
+          },
+          "$comment": "Link with relationship `self` must be absolute URI",
+          "if": {
+            "properties": {
+              "rel": {
+                "const": "self"
+              }
+            }
+          },
+          "then": {
+            "properties": {
+              "href": {
+                "format": "iri"
+              }
+            }
           }
         },
         {