diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/pod-security-admission/cmd/webhook/server/server.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/pod-security-admission/cmd/webhook/server/server.go
index d922529e03a..5eec49d9c6d 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/pod-security-admission/cmd/webhook/server/server.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/pod-security-admission/cmd/webhook/server/server.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
 	"time"
@@ -45,6 +46,8 @@ import (
 	"k8s.io/pod-security-admission/policy"
 )
 
+const maxRequestSize = int64(3 * 1024 * 1024)
+
 // NewSchedulerCommand creates a *cobra.Command object with default parameters and registryOptions
 func NewServerCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	opts := options.NewOptions()
@@ -153,11 +156,17 @@ func (s *Server) HandleValidate(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 
 	defer r.Body.Close()
-	if body, err = ioutil.ReadAll(r.Body); err != nil {
+	limitedReader := &io.LimitedReader{R: r.Body, N: maxRequestSize}
+	if body, err = ioutil.ReadAll(limitedReader); err != nil {
 		klog.ErrorS(err, "unable to read the body from the incoming request")
 		http.Error(w, "unable to read the body from the incoming request", http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return
 	}
+	if limitedReader.N <= 0 {
+		klog.ErrorS(err, "unable to read the body from the incoming request; limit reached")
+		http.Error(w, fmt.Sprintf("request entity is too large; limit is %d bytes", maxRequestSize), http.StatusRequestEntityTooLarge)
+		return
+	}
 
 	// verify the content type is accurate
 	if contentType := r.Header.Get("Content-Type"); contentType != "application/json" {