diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/schema/cel/validation.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/schema/cel/validation.go
index 0710bead7f4..43b1cf71cf8 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/schema/cel/validation.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/schema/cel/validation.go
@@ -210,8 +210,16 @@ func (r ratchetingOptions) shouldRatchetError() bool {
 func (r ratchetingOptions) key(field string) ratchetingOptions {
 	if r.currentCorrelation == nil {
 		return r
+	} else if r.nearestParentCorrelation == nil && (field == "apiVersion" || field == "kind") {
+		// We cannot ratchet changes to the APIVersion and kind fields field since
+		// they aren't visible. (both old and new are converted to the same type)
+		//
+		return ratchetingOptions{}
 	}
 
+	// nearestParentCorrelation is always non-nil except for the root node.
+	// The below line ensures that the next nearestParentCorrelation is set
+	// to a non-nil r.currentCorrelation
 	return ratchetingOptions{currentCorrelation: r.currentCorrelation.Key(field), nearestParentCorrelation: r.currentCorrelation}
 }
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/schema/cel/validation_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/schema/cel/validation_test.go
index 2170fb9eef6..3fc5ac2374c 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/schema/cel/validation_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/schema/cel/validation_test.go
@@ -3622,6 +3622,106 @@ func TestRatcheting(t *testing.T) {
 				`rule compile error: compilation failed: ERROR: <input>:1:1: undeclared reference to 'asdausidyhASDNJm'`,
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "typemeta fields are not ratcheted",
+			schema: mustSchema(`
+				type: object
+				properties:
+					apiVersion:
+						type: string
+						x-kubernetes-validations:
+						- rule: self == "v1"
+					kind:
+						type: string
+						x-kubernetes-validations:
+						- rule: self == "Pod"
+			`),
+			oldObj: mustUnstructured(`
+				apiVersion: v2
+				kind: Baz
+			`),
+			newObj: mustUnstructured(`
+				apiVersion: v2
+				kind: Baz
+			`),
+			errors: []string{
+				`root.apiVersion: Invalid value: "string": failed rule: self == "v1"`,
+				`root.kind: Invalid value: "string": failed rule: self == "Pod"`,
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "nested typemeta fields may still be ratcheted",
+			schema: mustSchema(`
+				type: object
+				properties:
+					list:
+						type: array
+						x-kubernetes-list-type: map
+						x-kubernetes-list-map-keys: ["name"]
+						maxItems: 2
+						items:
+							type: object
+							properties:
+								name:
+									type: string
+								apiVersion:
+									type: string
+									x-kubernetes-validations:
+									- rule: self == "v1"
+								kind:
+									type: string
+									x-kubernetes-validations:
+									- rule: self == "Pod"
+					subField:
+						type: object
+						properties:
+							apiVersion:
+								type: string
+								x-kubernetes-validations:
+								- rule: self == "v1"
+							kind:
+								type: string
+								x-kubernetes-validations:
+								- rule: self == "Pod"
+							otherField:
+								type: string
+			`),
+			oldObj: mustUnstructured(`
+				subField:
+					apiVersion: v2
+					kind: Baz
+				list:	
+				- name: entry1
+				  apiVersion: v2
+				  kind: Baz
+				- name: entry2
+				  apiVersion: v3
+				  kind: Bar
+			`),
+			newObj: mustUnstructured(`
+				subField:
+					apiVersion: v2
+					kind: Baz
+					otherField: newValue
+				list:	
+				- name: entry1
+				  apiVersion: v2
+				  kind: Baz
+				  otherField: newValue2
+				- name: entry2
+				  apiVersion: v3
+				  kind: Bar
+				  otherField: newValue3
+			`),
+			warnings: []string{
+				`root.subField.apiVersion: Invalid value: "string": failed rule: self == "v1"`,
+				`root.subField.kind: Invalid value: "string": failed rule: self == "Pod"`,
+				`root.list[0].apiVersion: Invalid value: "string": failed rule: self == "v1"`,
+				`root.list[0].kind: Invalid value: "string": failed rule: self == "Pod"`,
+				`root.list[1].apiVersion: Invalid value: "string": failed rule: self == "v1"`,
+				`root.list[1].kind: Invalid value: "string": failed rule: self == "Pod"`,
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, c := range cases {
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/validation/ratcheting.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/validation/ratcheting.go
index 3cc653e7466..9cd01686863 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/validation/ratcheting.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiextensions-apiserver/pkg/apiserver/validation/ratcheting.go
@@ -165,7 +165,13 @@ func (r *ratchetingValueValidator) Validate(new interface{}) *validate.Result {
 // If the old value cannot be correlated, then default validation is used.
 func (r *ratchetingValueValidator) SubPropertyValidator(field string, schema *spec.Schema, rootSchema interface{}, root string, formats strfmt.Registry, options ...validate.Option) validate.ValueValidator {
 	childNode := r.correlation.Key(field)
-	if childNode == nil {
+	if childNode == nil || (r.path == "" && isTypeMetaField(field)) {
+		// Defer to default validation if we cannot correlate the old value
+		// or if we are validating the root object and the field is a metadata
+		// field.
+		//
+		// We cannot ratchet changes to the APIVersion field since they aren't visible.
+		// (both old and new are converted to the same type)
 		return validate.NewSchemaValidator(schema, rootSchema, root, formats, options...)
 	}
 
@@ -210,3 +216,7 @@ func (r ratchetingValueValidator) SetPath(path string) {
 func (r ratchetingValueValidator) Applies(source interface{}, valueKind reflect.Kind) bool {
 	return true
 }
+
+func isTypeMetaField(path string) bool {
+	return path == "kind" || path == "apiVersion"
+}