diff --git a/runtime/databricks/automl_runtime/forecast/deepar/model.py b/runtime/databricks/automl_runtime/forecast/deepar/model.py
index feaaa8c9..b831c90f 100644
--- a/runtime/databricks/automl_runtime/forecast/deepar/model.py
+++ b/runtime/databricks/automl_runtime/forecast/deepar/model.py
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ def predict(self,
         :return: predicted pd.DataFrame that starts after the last timestamp in the input dataframe,
                                 and predicts the horizon using the mean of the samples
         """
-        required_cols = [self._time_col]
+        required_cols = [self._target_col, self._time_col]
         if self._id_cols:
             required_cols += self._id_cols
         self._validate_cols(model_input, required_cols)
diff --git a/runtime/databricks/automl_runtime/version.py b/runtime/databricks/automl_runtime/version.py
index 6ab0a0bc..bcb6931e 100644
--- a/runtime/databricks/automl_runtime/version.py
+++ b/runtime/databricks/automl_runtime/version.py
@@ -14,4 +14,4 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 #
 
-__version__ = "0.2.20.2"  # pragma: no cover
+__version__ = "0.2.20.3.dev"  # pragma: no cover