diff --git a/pkg/registry/resource/deviceclass/declarative_validation_test.go b/pkg/registry/resource/deviceclass/declarative_validation_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8b6f0202f73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/registry/resource/deviceclass/declarative_validation_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2025 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+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.
+*/
+
+package deviceclass
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation/field"
+	genericapirequest "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/request"
+	apitesting "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/testing"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/apis/resource"
+	_ "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/apis/resource/install"
+)
+
+var apiVersions = []string{"v1", "v1beta1", "v1beta2"}
+
+func TestDeclarativeValidate(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, apiVersion := range apiVersions {
+		t.Run(apiVersion, func(t *testing.T) {
+			ctx := genericapirequest.WithRequestInfo(genericapirequest.NewDefaultContext(), &genericapirequest.RequestInfo{
+				APIGroup:   "resource.k8s.io",
+				APIVersion: apiVersion,
+				Resource:   "deviceclasses",
+			})
+
+			strategy := Strategy
+
+			testCases := map[string]struct {
+				input        resource.DeviceClass
+				expectedErrs field.ErrorList
+			}{
+				"valid": {
+					input: mkDeviceClass(),
+				},
+				// TODO: Add more test cases
+			}
+
+			for k, tc := range testCases {
+				t.Run(k, func(t *testing.T) {
+					apitesting.VerifyValidationEquivalence(t, ctx, &tc.input, strategy.Validate, tc.expectedErrs)
+				})
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDeclarativeValidateUpdate(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, apiVersion := range apiVersions {
+		t.Run(apiVersion, func(t *testing.T) {
+			ctx := genericapirequest.WithRequestInfo(genericapirequest.NewDefaultContext(), &genericapirequest.RequestInfo{
+				APIGroup:   "resource.k8s.io",
+				APIVersion: apiVersion,
+				Resource:   "deviceclasses",
+			})
+
+			strategy := Strategy
+
+			testCases := map[string]struct {
+				old          resource.DeviceClass
+				update       resource.DeviceClass
+				expectedErrs field.ErrorList
+			}{
+				"valid no changes": {
+					old:    mkDeviceClass(),
+					update: mkDeviceClass(),
+				},
+				// TODO: Add more test cases
+			}
+
+			for k, tc := range testCases {
+				t.Run(k, func(t *testing.T) {
+					tc.old.ResourceVersion = "1"
+					tc.update.ResourceVersion = "1"
+					apitesting.VerifyUpdateValidationEquivalence(t, ctx, &tc.update, &tc.old, strategy.ValidateUpdate, tc.expectedErrs)
+				})
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+// Helper function to create a DeviceClass with default values and optional mutators
+func mkDeviceClass(mutators ...func(*resource.DeviceClass)) resource.DeviceClass {
+	dc := resource.DeviceClass{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name: "test-class",
+		},
+		Spec: resource.DeviceClassSpec{
+			Selectors: []resource.DeviceSelector{
+				{
+					CEL: &resource.CELDeviceSelector{
+						Expression: "device.driver == \"test.driver.io\"",
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			Config: []resource.DeviceClassConfiguration{
+				{
+					DeviceConfiguration: resource.DeviceConfiguration{
+						Opaque: &resource.OpaqueDeviceConfiguration{
+							Driver: "test.driver.io",
+							Parameters: runtime.RawExtension{
+								Raw: []byte(`{"key":"value"}`),
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	for _, mutate := range mutators {
+		mutate(&dc)
+	}
+	return dc
+}
diff --git a/pkg/registry/resource/deviceclass/strategy.go b/pkg/registry/resource/deviceclass/strategy.go
index d682ef28ebb..ba32cb199fd 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/resource/deviceclass/strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/resource/deviceclass/strategy.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	apiequality "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/equality"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation/field"
+	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/storage/names"
 	utilfeature "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/feature"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/api/legacyscheme"
@@ -50,7 +51,18 @@ func (deviceClassStrategy) PrepareForCreate(ctx context.Context, obj runtime.Obj
 
 func (deviceClassStrategy) Validate(ctx context.Context, obj runtime.Object) field.ErrorList {
 	deviceClass := obj.(*resource.DeviceClass)
-	return validation.ValidateDeviceClass(deviceClass)
+	errorList := validation.ValidateDeviceClass(deviceClass)
+
+	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.DeclarativeValidation) {
+		takeover := utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.DeclarativeValidationTakeover)
+		declarativeErrs := rest.ValidateDeclaratively(ctx, legacyscheme.Scheme, deviceClass, rest.WithTakeover(takeover))
+		validationIdentifier := "deviceclass_create"
+		rest.CompareDeclarativeErrorsAndEmitMismatches(ctx, errorList, declarativeErrs, takeover, validationIdentifier)
+		if takeover {
+			errorList = append(errorList.RemoveCoveredByDeclarative(), declarativeErrs...)
+		}
+	}
+	return errorList
 }
 
 func (deviceClassStrategy) WarningsOnCreate(ctx context.Context, obj runtime.Object) []string {
@@ -77,8 +89,22 @@ func (deviceClassStrategy) PrepareForUpdate(ctx context.Context, obj, old runtim
 }
 
 func (deviceClassStrategy) ValidateUpdate(ctx context.Context, obj, old runtime.Object) field.ErrorList {
-	errorList := validation.ValidateDeviceClass(obj.(*resource.DeviceClass))
-	return append(errorList, validation.ValidateDeviceClassUpdate(obj.(*resource.DeviceClass), old.(*resource.DeviceClass))...)
+	newClass := obj.(*resource.DeviceClass)
+	oldClass := old.(*resource.DeviceClass)
+
+	errorList := validation.ValidateDeviceClass(newClass)
+	errorList = append(errorList, validation.ValidateDeviceClassUpdate(newClass, oldClass)...)
+
+	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.DeclarativeValidation) {
+		takeover := utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.DeclarativeValidationTakeover)
+		declarativeErrs := rest.ValidateUpdateDeclaratively(ctx, legacyscheme.Scheme, newClass, oldClass, rest.WithTakeover(takeover))
+		validationIdentifier := "deviceclass_update"
+		rest.CompareDeclarativeErrorsAndEmitMismatches(ctx, errorList, declarativeErrs, takeover, validationIdentifier)
+		if takeover {
+			errorList = append(errorList.RemoveCoveredByDeclarative(), declarativeErrs...)
+		}
+	}
+	return errorList
 }
 
 func (deviceClassStrategy) WarningsOnUpdate(ctx context.Context, obj, old runtime.Object) []string {