diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/etcd.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/etcd.go
index d4f75ddd721..14a96f0ca74 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/etcd.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/etcd.go
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
 
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/sets"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/wait"
@@ -87,6 +88,12 @@ func NewEtcdOptions(backendConfig *storagebackend.Config) *EtcdOptions {
 	return options
 }
 
+var storageMediaTypes = sets.New(
+	runtime.ContentTypeJSON,
+	runtime.ContentTypeYAML,
+	runtime.ContentTypeProtobuf,
+)
+
 func (s *EtcdOptions) Validate() []error {
 	if s == nil {
 		return nil
@@ -120,6 +127,10 @@ func (s *EtcdOptions) Validate() []error {
 		allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("--encryption-provider-config-automatic-reload must be set with --encryption-provider-config"))
 	}
 
+	if s.DefaultStorageMediaType != "" && !storageMediaTypes.Has(s.DefaultStorageMediaType) {
+		allErrors = append(allErrors, fmt.Errorf("--storage-media-type %q invalid, allowed values: %s", s.DefaultStorageMediaType, strings.Join(sets.List(storageMediaTypes), ", ")))
+	}
+
 	return allErrors
 }
 
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/etcd_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/etcd_test.go
index 89a1251bc1e..8c21a3880ee 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/etcd_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/server/options/etcd_test.go
@@ -160,6 +160,40 @@ func TestEtcdOptionsValidate(t *testing.T) {
 				EtcdServersOverrides:    []string{"/events#http://127.0.0.1:4002"},
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			name: "empty storage-media-type",
+			testOptions: &EtcdOptions{
+				StorageConfig: storagebackend.Config{
+					Transport: storagebackend.TransportConfig{
+						ServerList: []string{"http://127.0.0.1"},
+					},
+				},
+				DefaultStorageMediaType: "",
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "recognized storage-media-type",
+			testOptions: &EtcdOptions{
+				StorageConfig: storagebackend.Config{
+					Transport: storagebackend.TransportConfig{
+						ServerList: []string{"http://127.0.0.1"},
+					},
+				},
+				DefaultStorageMediaType: "application/json",
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "unrecognized storage-media-type",
+			testOptions: &EtcdOptions{
+				StorageConfig: storagebackend.Config{
+					Transport: storagebackend.TransportConfig{
+						ServerList: []string{"http://127.0.0.1"},
+					},
+				},
+				DefaultStorageMediaType: "foo/bar",
+			},
+			expectErr: `--storage-media-type "foo/bar" invalid, allowed values: application/json, application/vnd.kubernetes.protobuf, application/yaml`,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, testcase := range testCases {