diff --git a/pkg/apis/apiserverinternal/validation/validation.go b/pkg/apis/apiserverinternal/validation/validation.go
index 6f2e73c91fe..928ffec7bb0 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/apiserverinternal/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/apiserverinternal/validation/validation.go
@@ -83,13 +83,13 @@ func validateServerStorageVersion(ssv apiserverinternal.ServerStorageVersion, fl
 	for _, msg := range apimachineryvalidation.NameIsDNSSubdomain(ssv.APIServerID, false) {
 		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldPath.Child("apiServerID"), ssv.APIServerID, msg))
 	}
-	if errs := utilvalidation.IsDNS1035Label(ssv.EncodingVersion); len(errs) > 0 {
+	if errs := isValidAPIVersion(ssv.EncodingVersion); len(errs) > 0 {
 		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldPath.Child("encodingVersion"), ssv.EncodingVersion, strings.Join(errs, ",")))
 	}
 
 	found := false
 	for i, dv := range ssv.DecodableVersions {
-		if errs := utilvalidation.IsDNS1035Label(dv); len(errs) > 0 {
+		if errs := isValidAPIVersion(dv); len(errs) > 0 {
 			allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldPath.Child("decodableVersions").Index(i), dv, strings.Join(errs, ",")))
 		}
 		if dv == ssv.EncodingVersion {
@@ -158,3 +158,46 @@ func validateStorageVersionCondition(conditions []apiserverinternal.StorageVersi
 	}
 	return allErrs
 }
+
+const dns1035LabelFmt string = "[a-z]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?"
+const dns1035LabelErrMsg string = "a DNS-1035 label must consist of lower case alphanumeric characters or '-', start with an alphabetic character, and end with an alphanumeric character"
+
+// isValidAPIVersion tests whether the value passed is a valid apiVersion. A
+// valid apiVersion contains a version string that matches DNS_LABEL format,
+// with an optional group/ prefix, where the group string matches DNS_SUBDOMAIN
+// format. If the value is not valid, a list of error strings is returned.
+// Otherwise an empty list (or nil) is returned.
+func isValidAPIVersion(apiVersion string) []string {
+	var errs []string
+	parts := strings.Split(apiVersion, "/")
+	var version string
+	switch len(parts) {
+	case 1:
+		version = parts[0]
+	case 2:
+		var group string
+		group, version = parts[0], parts[1]
+		if len(group) == 0 {
+			errs = append(errs, "group part "+utilvalidation.EmptyError())
+		} else if msgs := utilvalidation.IsDNS1123Subdomain(group); len(msgs) != 0 {
+			errs = append(errs, prefixEach(msgs, "group part ")...)
+		}
+	default:
+		return append(errs, "an apiVersion "+utilvalidation.RegexError(dns1035LabelErrMsg, dns1035LabelFmt, "my-name", "abc-123")+
+			" with an optional DNS subdomain prefix and '/' (e.g. 'example.com/MyVersion')")
+	}
+
+	if len(version) == 0 {
+		errs = append(errs, "version part "+utilvalidation.EmptyError())
+	} else if msgs := utilvalidation.IsDNS1035Label(version); len(msgs) != 0 {
+		errs = append(errs, prefixEach(msgs, "version part ")...)
+	}
+	return errs
+}
+
+func prefixEach(msgs []string, prefix string) []string {
+	for i := range msgs {
+		msgs[i] = prefix + msgs[i]
+	}
+	return msgs
+}
diff --git a/pkg/apis/apiserverinternal/validation/validation_test.go b/pkg/apis/apiserverinternal/validation/validation_test.go
index 87b8cd7fe80..fcaded290ee 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/apiserverinternal/validation/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/apiserverinternal/validation/validation_test.go
@@ -61,6 +61,62 @@ func TestValidateServerStorageVersion(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			expectedErr: "",
 		},
+		{
+			ssv: apiserverinternal.ServerStorageVersion{
+				APIServerID:       "fea",
+				EncodingVersion:   "mygroup.com/v2",
+				DecodableVersions: []string{"v1alpha1", "v1", "mygroup.com/v2"},
+			},
+			expectedErr: "",
+		},
+		{
+			ssv: apiserverinternal.ServerStorageVersion{
+				APIServerID:       "fea",
+				EncodingVersion:   "mygroup.com/v2",
+				DecodableVersions: []string{"mygroup.com/v2", "/v3"},
+			},
+			expectedErr: `[].decodableVersions[1]: Invalid value: "/v3": group part must be non-empty`,
+		},
+		{
+			ssv: apiserverinternal.ServerStorageVersion{
+				APIServerID:       "fea",
+				EncodingVersion:   "mygroup.com/v2",
+				DecodableVersions: []string{"mygroup.com/v2", "mygroup.com/"},
+			},
+			expectedErr: `[].decodableVersions[1]: Invalid value: "mygroup.com/": version part must be non-empty`,
+		},
+		{
+			ssv: apiserverinternal.ServerStorageVersion{
+				APIServerID:       "fea",
+				EncodingVersion:   "/v3",
+				DecodableVersions: []string{"mygroup.com/v2", "/v3"},
+			},
+			expectedErr: `[].encodingVersion: Invalid value: "/v3": group part must be non-empty`,
+		},
+		{
+			ssv: apiserverinternal.ServerStorageVersion{
+				APIServerID:       "fea",
+				EncodingVersion:   "v1",
+				DecodableVersions: []string{"v1", "mygroup_com/v2"},
+			},
+			expectedErr: `[].decodableVersions[1]: Invalid value: "mygroup_com/v2": group part a lowercase RFC 1123 subdomain must consist of lower case alphanumeric characters, '-' or '.', and must start and end with an alphanumeric character (e.g. 'example.com', regex used for validation is '[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?(\.[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?)*')`,
+		},
+		{
+			ssv: apiserverinternal.ServerStorageVersion{
+				APIServerID:       "fea",
+				EncodingVersion:   "v1",
+				DecodableVersions: []string{"v1", "mygroup.com/v2_"},
+			},
+			expectedErr: `[].decodableVersions[1]: Invalid value: "mygroup.com/v2_": version part a DNS-1035 label must consist of lower case alphanumeric characters or '-', start with an alphabetic character, and end with an alphanumeric character (e.g. 'my-name',  or 'abc-123', regex used for validation is '[a-z]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?')`,
+		},
+		{
+			ssv: apiserverinternal.ServerStorageVersion{
+				APIServerID:       "fea",
+				EncodingVersion:   "v1",
+				DecodableVersions: []string{"v1", "mygroup.com/v2/myresource"},
+			},
+			expectedErr: `[].decodableVersions[1]: Invalid value: "mygroup.com/v2/myresource": an apiVersion a DNS-1035 label must consist of lower case alphanumeric characters or '-', start with an alphabetic character, and end with an alphanumeric character (e.g. 'my-name',  or 'abc-123', regex used for validation is '[a-z]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?') with an optional DNS subdomain prefix and '/' (e.g. 'example.com/MyVersion')`,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, tc := range cases {