5-Hydroxyoxazole-4-carboxylic acid residues were advanced as substructures within the secondary bacterial metabolites precolibactins 969 and 795a. However, oxazoles containing both 5-hydroxy and 4-carboxy substituents are unprecedented. We have found these oxazoles are unstable with respect to hydrolytic ring opening and decarboxylation. Comparison of reported and theoretical 13C NMR chemical shifts between synthetic intermediates and the isolates revealed discrepancies in the oxazole region. These results suggest that precolibactins 969 and 795a may not contain 5-hydroxyoxazole-4-carboxylic acid residues.