diff --git a/pkg/api/validation/validation.go b/pkg/api/validation/validation.go
index 2e1d30814b0..484c0b6e469 100644
--- a/pkg/api/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/api/validation/validation.go
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ func InclusiveRangeErrorMsg(lo, hi int) string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf(`must be between %d and %d, inclusive`, lo, hi)
 }
 
-var DNS952LabelErrorMsg string = fmt.Sprintf(`must be a DNS 952 label (at most %d characters, matching regex %s): e.g. "my-name"`, validation.DNS952LabelMaxLength, validation.DNS952LabelFmt)
 var pdPartitionErrorMsg string = InclusiveRangeErrorMsg(1, 255)
 var PortRangeErrorMsg string = InclusiveRangeErrorMsg(1, 65535)
 var IdRangeErrorMsg string = InclusiveRangeErrorMsg(0, math.MaxInt32)
@@ -256,10 +255,7 @@ func NameIsDNS952Label(name string, prefix bool) []string {
 	if prefix {
 		name = maskTrailingDash(name)
 	}
-	if validation.IsDNS952Label(name) {
-		return nil
-	}
-	return []string{DNS952LabelErrorMsg}
+	return validation.IsDNS952Label(name)
 }
 
 // Validates that given value is not negative.
diff --git a/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd/validation.go b/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd/validation.go
index bd1bd735e09..1690f515e93 100644
--- a/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/client/unversioned/clientcmd/validation.go
@@ -260,8 +260,10 @@ func validateContext(contextName string, context clientcmdapi.Context, config cl
 		validationErrors = append(validationErrors, fmt.Errorf("cluster %q was not found for context %q", context.Cluster, contextName))
 	}
 
-	if (len(context.Namespace) != 0) && !validation.IsDNS952Label(context.Namespace) {
-		validationErrors = append(validationErrors, fmt.Errorf("namespace %q for context %q does not conform to the kubernetes DNS952 rules", context.Namespace, contextName))
+	if len(context.Namespace) != 0 {
+		if len(validation.IsDNS1123Label(context.Namespace)) != 0 {
+			validationErrors = append(validationErrors, fmt.Errorf("namespace %q for context %q does not conform to the kubernetes DNS_LABEL rules", context.Namespace, contextName))
+		}
 	}
 
 	return validationErrors
diff --git a/pkg/util/validation/validation.go b/pkg/util/validation/validation.go
index 53a6ab2434e..9361a4bfacb 100644
--- a/pkg/util/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/util/validation/validation.go
@@ -128,8 +128,15 @@ var dns952LabelRegexp = regexp.MustCompile("^" + DNS952LabelFmt + "$")
 
 // IsDNS952Label tests for a string that conforms to the definition of a label in
 // DNS (RFC 952).
-func IsDNS952Label(value string) bool {
-	return len(value) <= DNS952LabelMaxLength && dns952LabelRegexp.MatchString(value)
+func IsDNS952Label(value string) []string {
+	var errs []string
+	if len(value) > DNS952LabelMaxLength {
+		errs = append(errs, MaxLenError(DNS952LabelMaxLength))
+	}
+	if !dns952LabelRegexp.MatchString(value) {
+		errs = append(errs, RegexError(DNS952LabelFmt, "my-name", "abc-123"))
+	}
+	return errs
 }
 
 const CIdentifierFmt string = "[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*"
diff --git a/pkg/util/validation/validation_test.go b/pkg/util/validation/validation_test.go
index df4e661a496..ace4335b8bb 100644
--- a/pkg/util/validation/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/util/validation/validation_test.go
@@ -92,8 +92,8 @@ func TestIsDNS952Label(t *testing.T) {
 		strings.Repeat("a", 24),
 	}
 	for _, val := range goodValues {
-		if !IsDNS952Label(val) {
-			t.Errorf("expected true for '%s'", val)
+		if msgs := IsDNS952Label(val); len(msgs) != 0 {
+			t.Errorf("expected true for '%s': %v", val, msgs)
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ func TestIsDNS952Label(t *testing.T) {
 		strings.Repeat("a", 25),
 	}
 	for _, val := range badValues {
-		if IsDNS952Label(val) {
+		if msgs := IsDNS952Label(val); len(msgs) == 0 {
 			t.Errorf("expected false for '%s'", val)
 		}
 	}