diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation.go b/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation.go
index 6fefe704f40..2fd6b14d374 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	utilerrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/errors"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
 	utilvalidation "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation/field"
 	"k8s.io/component-base/featuregate"
@@ -55,9 +56,6 @@ func ValidateKubeletConfiguration(kc *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration, featur
 	if kc.NodeLeaseDurationSeconds <= 0 {
 		allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: nodeLeaseDurationSeconds must be greater than 0"))
 	}
-	if !kc.CgroupsPerQOS && len(kc.EnforceNodeAllocatable) > 0 {
-		allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: enforceNodeAllocatable (--enforce-node-allocatable) is not supported unless cgroupsPerQOS (--cgroups-per-qos) is set to true"))
-	}
 	if kc.SystemCgroups != "" && kc.CgroupRoot == "" {
 		allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: systemCgroups (--system-cgroups) was specified and cgroupRoot (--cgroup-root) was not specified"))
 	}
@@ -205,7 +203,14 @@ func ValidateKubeletConfiguration(kc *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration, featur
 		allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: memorySwap.swapBehavior cannot be set when NodeSwap feature flag is disabled"))
 	}
 
+	uniqueEnforcements := sets.Set[string]{}
 	for _, val := range kc.EnforceNodeAllocatable {
+		if uniqueEnforcements.Has(val) {
+			allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: duplicated enforcements %q in enforceNodeAllocatable (--enforce-node-allocatable)", val))
+			continue
+		}
+		uniqueEnforcements.Insert(val)
+
 		switch val {
 		case kubetypes.NodeAllocatableEnforcementKey:
 		case kubetypes.SystemReservedEnforcementKey:
@@ -220,9 +225,16 @@ func ValidateKubeletConfiguration(kc *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration, featur
 			if len(kc.EnforceNodeAllocatable) > 1 {
 				allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: enforceNodeAllocatable (--enforce-node-allocatable) may not contain additional enforcements when %q is specified", kubetypes.NodeAllocatableNoneKey))
 			}
+			// skip all further checks when this is explicitly "none"
+			continue
 		default:
 			allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: option %q specified for enforceNodeAllocatable (--enforce-node-allocatable). Valid options are %q, %q, %q, or %q",
 				val, kubetypes.NodeAllocatableEnforcementKey, kubetypes.SystemReservedEnforcementKey, kubetypes.KubeReservedEnforcementKey, kubetypes.NodeAllocatableNoneKey))
+			continue
+		}
+
+		if !kc.CgroupsPerQOS {
+			allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("invalid configuration: cgroupsPerQOS (--cgroups-per-qos) must be set to true when %q contained in enforceNodeAllocatable (--enforce-node-allocatable)", val))
 		}
 	}
 	switch kc.HairpinMode {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_test.go
index e014c7c15a4..22df9e3ab90 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_test.go
@@ -105,10 +105,10 @@ func TestValidateKubeletConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 		name: "specify EnforceNodeAllocatable without enabling CgroupsPerQOS",
 		configure: func(conf *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration {
 			conf.CgroupsPerQOS = false
-			conf.EnforceNodeAllocatable = []string{"pods"}
+			conf.EnforceNodeAllocatable = []string{kubetypes.NodeAllocatableEnforcementKey}
 			return conf
 		},
-		errMsg: "invalid configuration: enforceNodeAllocatable (--enforce-node-allocatable) is not supported unless cgroupsPerQOS (--cgroups-per-qos) is set to true",
+		errMsg: "invalid configuration: cgroupsPerQOS (--cgroups-per-qos) must be set to true when \"pods\" contained in enforceNodeAllocatable (--enforce-node-allocatable)",
 	}, {
 		name: "specify SystemCgroups without CgroupRoot",
 		configure: func(conf *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration {
@@ -399,6 +399,13 @@ func TestValidateKubeletConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 			return conf
 		},
 		errMsg: "invalid configuration: enforceNodeAllocatable (--enforce-node-allocatable) may not contain additional enforcements when \"none\" is specified",
+	}, {
+		name: "duplicated EnforceNodeAllocatable",
+		configure: func(conf *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration {
+			conf.EnforceNodeAllocatable = []string{kubetypes.NodeAllocatableNoneKey, kubetypes.NodeAllocatableNoneKey}
+			return conf
+		},
+		errMsg: "invalid configuration: duplicated enforcements \"none\" in enforceNodeAllocatable (--enforce-node-allocatable)",
 	}, {
 		name: "invalid EnforceNodeAllocatable",
 		configure: func(conf *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration {
diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_windows.go b/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_windows.go
index a6f0cba34c6..325b3cbab1a 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_windows.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_windows.go
@@ -22,7 +22,10 @@ package validation
 import (
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
+
 	kubeletconfig "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/apis/config"
+	kubetypes "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/types"
 )
 
 // validateKubeletOSConfiguration validates os specific kubelet configuration and returns an error if it is invalid.
@@ -33,7 +36,8 @@ func validateKubeletOSConfiguration(kc *kubeletconfig.KubeletConfiguration) erro
 		klog.Warningf(message, "CgroupsPerQOS", "--cgroups-per-qos", kc.CgroupsPerQOS)
 	}
 
-	if len(kc.EnforceNodeAllocatable) > 0 {
+	enforceNodeAllocatableWithoutNone := sets.New(kc.EnforceNodeAllocatable...).Delete(kubetypes.NodeAllocatableNoneKey)
+	if len(enforceNodeAllocatableWithoutNone) > 0 {
 		klog.Warningf(message, "EnforceNodeAllocatable", "--enforce-node-allocatable", kc.EnforceNodeAllocatable)
 	}