diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/BUILD b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/BUILD
index 61029e3ea5d..555cc37b308 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/BUILD
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/BUILD
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ go_library(
     visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
     deps = [
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/api/core/v1:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/api/flowcontrol/v1alpha1:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime:go_default_library",
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/api_enablement.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/api_enablement.go
index 65f143bf0d7..177351bd6cd 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/api_enablement.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/api_enablement.go
@@ -22,9 +22,12 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
 
+	flowcontrolv1alpha1 "k8s.io/api/flowcontrol/v1alpha1"
+	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/features"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/resourceconfig"
 	serverstore "k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/storage"
+	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/feature"
 	cliflag "k8s.io/component-base/cli/flag"
 )
 
@@ -71,6 +74,18 @@ func (s *APIEnablementOptions) Validate(registries ...GroupRegisty) []error {
 		return append(errors, err)
 	}
 
+	if feature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.RequestManagement) {
+		flowcontrolRegistered := false
+		for _, g := range groups {
+			if g == flowcontrolv1alpha1.SchemeGroupVersion.Group {
+				flowcontrolRegistered = true
+			}
+		}
+		if !flowcontrolRegistered {
+			return append(errors, fmt.Errorf("flowcontrol.apiserver.k8s.io has to be enabled with RequestManagement feature gate on"))
+		}
+	}
+
 	for _, registry := range registries {
 		// filter out known groups
 		groups = unknownGroups(groups, registry)