diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/BUILD b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/BUILD
index 87846313d46..64d3b14d241 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/BUILD
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/BUILD
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ go_library(
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/runtime:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/strategicpatch:go_default_library",
+        "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation/field:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/watch:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/admission:go_default_library",
         "//staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/audit:go_default_library",
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go
index c33f181661a..7988b0a2fa4 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/endpoints/handlers/patch.go
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/mergepatch"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/strategicpatch"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation/field"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/admission"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/audit"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/authorization/authorizer"
@@ -318,7 +319,9 @@ func (p *jsonPatcher) applyPatchToCurrentObject(currentObject runtime.Object) (r
 	// Construct the resulting typed, unversioned object.
 	objToUpdate := p.restPatcher.New()
 	if err := runtime.DecodeInto(p.codec, patchedObjJS, objToUpdate); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, errors.NewInvalid(schema.GroupKind{}, "", field.ErrorList{
+			field.Invalid(field.NewPath("patch"), string(patchedObjJS), err.Error()),
+		})
 	}
 
 	if p.fieldManager != nil {
@@ -583,7 +586,9 @@ func applyPatchToObject(
 
 	// Rather than serialize the patched map to JSON, then decode it to an object, we go directly from a map to an object
 	if err := runtime.DefaultUnstructuredConverter.FromUnstructured(patchedObjMap, objToUpdate); err != nil {
-		return err
+		return errors.NewInvalid(schema.GroupKind{}, "", field.ErrorList{
+			field.Invalid(field.NewPath("patch"), fmt.Sprintf("%+v", patchMap), err.Error()),
+		})
 	}
 	// Decoding from JSON to a versioned object would apply defaults, so we do the same here
 	defaulter.Default(objToUpdate)
diff --git a/test/integration/apiserver/apiserver_test.go b/test/integration/apiserver/apiserver_test.go
index 212209b9303..e61c699dda1 100644
--- a/test/integration/apiserver/apiserver_test.go
+++ b/test/integration/apiserver/apiserver_test.go
@@ -148,6 +148,70 @@ var cascDel = `
 }
 `
 
+func Test4xxStatusCodeInvalidPatch(t *testing.T) {
+	_, client, closeFn := setup(t)
+	defer closeFn()
+
+	obj := []byte(`{
+		"apiVersion": "apps/v1",
+		"kind": "Deployment",
+		"metadata": {
+			"name": "deployment",
+			"labels": {"app": "nginx"}
+                },
+		"spec": {
+			"selector": {
+				"matchLabels": {
+					 "app": "nginx"
+				}
+			},
+			"template": {
+				"metadata": {
+					"labels": {
+						"app": "nginx"
+					}
+				},
+				"spec": {
+					"containers": [{
+						"name":  "nginx",
+						"image": "nginx:latest"
+					}]
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}`)
+
+	resp, err := client.CoreV1().RESTClient().Post().
+		AbsPath("/apis/apps/v1").
+		Namespace("default").
+		Resource("deployments").
+		Body(obj).Do().Get()
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to create object: %v: %v", err, resp)
+	}
+	result := client.CoreV1().RESTClient().Patch(types.MergePatchType).
+		AbsPath("/apis/apps/v1").
+		Namespace("default").
+		Resource("deployments").
+		Name("deployment").
+		Body([]byte(`{"metadata":{"annotations":{"foo":["bar"]}}}`)).Do()
+	var statusCode int
+	result.StatusCode(&statusCode)
+	if statusCode != 422 {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected status code to be 422, got %v (%#v)", statusCode, result)
+	}
+	result = client.CoreV1().RESTClient().Patch(types.StrategicMergePatchType).
+		AbsPath("/apis/apps/v1").
+		Namespace("default").
+		Resource("deployments").
+		Name("deployment").
+		Body([]byte(`{"metadata":{"annotations":{"foo":["bar"]}}}`)).Do()
+	result.StatusCode(&statusCode)
+	if statusCode != 422 {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected status code to be 422, got %v (%#v)", statusCode, result)
+	}
+}
+
 // Tests that the apiserver returns 202 status code as expected.
 func Test202StatusCode(t *testing.T) {
 	s, clientSet, closeFn := setup(t)