diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/cel/common/values.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/cel/common/values.go
index d9034a80fb2..c8279f01371 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/cel/common/values.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/cel/common/values.go
@@ -84,18 +84,22 @@ func UnstructuredToVal(unstructured interface{}, schema Schema) ref.Val {
 				},
 			}
 		}
-		// A object with x-kubernetes-preserve-unknown-fields but no properties or additionalProperties is treated
-		// as an empty object.
-		if schema.IsXPreserveUnknownFields() {
-			return &unstructuredMap{
-				value:  m,
-				schema: schema,
-				propSchema: func(key string) (Schema, bool) {
-					return nil, false
-				},
-			}
+
+		// properties and additionalProperties are mutual exclusive, but nothing prevents the situation
+		// where both are missing.
+		// An object that (1) has no properties (2) has no additionalProperties or additionalProperties == false
+		// is treated as an empty object.
+		// An object that has additionalProperties == true is treated as an unstructured map.
+		// An object that has x-kubernetes-preserve-unknown-field extension set is treated as an unstructured map.
+		// Empty object vs unstructured map is differentiated by unstructuredMap implementation with the set schema.
+		// The resulting result remains the same.
+		return &unstructuredMap{
+			value:  m,
+			schema: schema,
+			propSchema: func(key string) (Schema, bool) {
+				return nil, false
+			},
 		}
-		return types.NewErr("invalid object type, expected either Properties or AdditionalProperties with Allows=true and non-empty Schema")
 	}
 
 	if schema.Type() == "array" {
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/cel/openapi/values_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/cel/openapi/values_test.go
index 0607327f8bb..6914cce465f 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/cel/openapi/values_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/cel/openapi/values_test.go
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ var (
 			Type:                 []string{"object"},
 			AdditionalProperties: &spec.SchemaOrBool{Schema: stringSchema},
 		}}
+	emptyObjectSchema = &spec.Schema{
+		SchemaProps: spec.SchemaProps{Type: []string{"object"}},
+	}
 )
 
 func TestEquality(t *testing.T) {
@@ -331,6 +334,12 @@ func TestEquality(t *testing.T) {
 			rhs:   UnstructuredToVal([]interface{}{"a", "b", "c"}, atomicListSchema),
 			equal: false,
 		},
+		{
+			name:  "empty objects are equal",
+			lhs:   UnstructuredToVal(map[string]interface{}{}, emptyObjectSchema),
+			rhs:   UnstructuredToVal(map[string]interface{}{}, emptyObjectSchema),
+			equal: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name:  "identical objects are equal",
 			lhs:   UnstructuredToVal(map[string]interface{}{"field1": "a", "field2": "b"}, objectSchema),