diff --git a/pkg/apis/batch/validation/validation.go b/pkg/apis/batch/validation/validation.go
index 03135c2a206..8466b92e038 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/batch/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/batch/validation/validation.go
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ limitations under the License.
 package validation
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+
 	"github.com/robfig/cron"
 
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
@@ -124,8 +126,14 @@ func validateJobSpec(spec *batch.JobSpec, fldPath *field.Path, opts apivalidatio
 	}
 
 	allErrs = append(allErrs, apivalidation.ValidatePodTemplateSpec(&spec.Template, fldPath.Child("template"), opts)...)
-	if spec.Template.Spec.RestartPolicy != api.RestartPolicyOnFailure &&
-		spec.Template.Spec.RestartPolicy != api.RestartPolicyNever {
+
+	// spec.Template.Spec.RestartPolicy can be defaulted as RestartPolicyAlways
+	// by SetDefaults_PodSpec function when the user does not explicitly specify a value for it,
+	// so we check both empty and RestartPolicyAlways cases here
+	if spec.Template.Spec.RestartPolicy == api.RestartPolicyAlways || spec.Template.Spec.RestartPolicy == "" {
+		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Required(fldPath.Child("template", "spec", "restartPolicy"),
+			fmt.Sprintf("valid values: %q, %q", api.RestartPolicyOnFailure, api.RestartPolicyNever)))
+	} else if spec.Template.Spec.RestartPolicy != api.RestartPolicyOnFailure && spec.Template.Spec.RestartPolicy != api.RestartPolicyNever {
 		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.NotSupported(fldPath.Child("template", "spec", "restartPolicy"),
 			spec.Template.Spec.RestartPolicy, []string{string(api.RestartPolicyOnFailure), string(api.RestartPolicyNever)}))
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/apis/batch/validation/validation_test.go b/pkg/apis/batch/validation/validation_test.go
index e261c831a72..8c357db1722 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/batch/validation/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/batch/validation/validation_test.go
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ func TestValidateJob(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
-		"spec.template.spec.restartPolicy: Unsupported value": {
+		"spec.template.spec.restartPolicy: Required value": {
 			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 				Name:      "myjob",
 				Namespace: metav1.NamespaceDefault,
@@ -216,6 +216,27 @@ func TestValidateJob(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		"spec.template.spec.restartPolicy: Unsupported value": {
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+				Name:      "myjob",
+				Namespace: metav1.NamespaceDefault,
+				UID:       types.UID("1a2b3c"),
+			},
+			Spec: batch.JobSpec{
+				Selector:       validManualSelector,
+				ManualSelector: newBool(true),
+				Template: api.PodTemplateSpec{
+					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+						Labels: validManualSelector.MatchLabels,
+					},
+					Spec: api.PodSpec{
+						RestartPolicy: "Invalid",
+						DNSPolicy:     api.DNSClusterFirst,
+						Containers:    []api.Container{{Name: "abc", Image: "image", ImagePullPolicy: "IfNotPresent", TerminationMessagePolicy: api.TerminationMessageReadFile}},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, setFeature := range []bool{true, false} {
@@ -586,7 +607,7 @@ func TestValidateCronJob(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
-		"spec.jobTemplate.spec.template.spec.restartPolicy: Unsupported value": {
+		"spec.jobTemplate.spec.template.spec.restartPolicy: Required value": {
 			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
 				Name:      "mycronjob",
 				Namespace: metav1.NamespaceDefault,
@@ -608,6 +629,28 @@ func TestValidateCronJob(t *testing.T) {
 				},
 			},
 		},
+		"spec.jobTemplate.spec.template.spec.restartPolicy: Unsupported value": {
+			ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+				Name:      "mycronjob",
+				Namespace: metav1.NamespaceDefault,
+				UID:       types.UID("1a2b3c"),
+			},
+			Spec: batch.CronJobSpec{
+				Schedule:          "* * * * ?",
+				ConcurrencyPolicy: batch.AllowConcurrent,
+				JobTemplate: batch.JobTemplateSpec{
+					Spec: batch.JobSpec{
+						Template: api.PodTemplateSpec{
+							Spec: api.PodSpec{
+								RestartPolicy: "Invalid",
+								DNSPolicy:     api.DNSClusterFirst,
+								Containers:    []api.Container{{Name: "abc", Image: "image", ImagePullPolicy: "IfNotPresent", TerminationMessagePolicy: api.TerminationMessageReadFile}},
+							},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+		},
 	}
 	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.TTLAfterFinished) {
 		errorCases["spec.jobTemplate.spec.ttlSecondsAfterFinished:must be greater than or equal to 0"] = batch.CronJob{