diff --git a/pkg/api/helpers.go b/pkg/api/helpers.go
index 943a9ea9ae3..1bc0318ee9e 100644
--- a/pkg/api/helpers.go
+++ b/pkg/api/helpers.go
@@ -430,6 +430,10 @@ func NodeSelectorRequirementsAsSelector(nsm []NodeSelectorRequirement) (labels.S
 }
 
 const (
+	// TolerationsAnnotationKey represents the key of tolerations data (json serialized)
+	// in the Annotations of a Pod.
+	TolerationsAnnotationKey string = "scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/tolerations"
+
 	// SeccompPodAnnotationKey represents the key of a seccomp profile applied
 	// to all containers of a pod.
 	SeccompPodAnnotationKey string = "seccomp.security.alpha.kubernetes.io/pod"
@@ -471,6 +475,19 @@ const (
 	AffinityAnnotationKey string = "scheduler.alpha.kubernetes.io/affinity"
 )
 
+// GetTolerationsFromPodAnnotations gets the json serialized tolerations data from Pod.Annotations
+// and converts it to the []Toleration type in api.
+func GetTolerationsFromPodAnnotations(annotations map[string]string) ([]Toleration, error) {
+	var tolerations []Toleration
+	if len(annotations) > 0 && annotations[TolerationsAnnotationKey] != "" {
+		err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(annotations[TolerationsAnnotationKey]), &tolerations)
+		if err != nil {
+			return tolerations, err
+		}
+	}
+	return tolerations, nil
+}
+
 // AddOrUpdateTolerationInPod tries to add a toleration to the pod's toleration list.
 // Returns true if something was updated, false otherwise.
 func AddOrUpdateTolerationInPod(pod *Pod, toleration *Toleration) (bool, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/api/validation/validation.go b/pkg/api/validation/validation.go
index 1e360749ab9..0293d1c0c35 100644
--- a/pkg/api/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/api/validation/validation.go
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@ func ValidatePodSpecificAnnotations(annotations map[string]string, spec *api.Pod
 		allErrs = append(allErrs, ValidateAffinityInPodAnnotations(annotations, fldPath)...)
 	}
 
+	if annotations[api.TolerationsAnnotationKey] != "" {
+		allErrs = append(allErrs, ValidateTolerationsInPodAnnotations(annotations, fldPath)...)
+	}
+
 	// TODO: remove these after we EOL the annotations.
 	if hostname, exists := annotations[utilpod.PodHostnameAnnotation]; exists {
 		allErrs = append(allErrs, ValidateDNS1123Label(hostname, fldPath.Key(utilpod.PodHostnameAnnotation))...)
@@ -140,6 +144,23 @@ func ValidatePodSpecificAnnotations(annotations map[string]string, spec *api.Pod
 	return allErrs
 }
 
+// ValidateTolerationsInPodAnnotations tests that the serialized tolerations in Pod.Annotations has valid data
+func ValidateTolerationsInPodAnnotations(annotations map[string]string, fldPath *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
+	allErrs := field.ErrorList{}
+
+	tolerations, err := api.GetTolerationsFromPodAnnotations(annotations)
+	if err != nil {
+		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldPath, api.TolerationsAnnotationKey, err.Error()))
+		return allErrs
+	}
+
+	if len(tolerations) > 0 {
+		allErrs = append(allErrs, validateTolerations(tolerations, fldPath.Child(api.TolerationsAnnotationKey))...)
+	}
+
+	return allErrs
+}
+
 // ValidateAffinityInPodAnnotations tests that the serialized Affinity in Pod.Annotations has valid data
 func ValidateAffinityInPodAnnotations(annotations map[string]string, fldPath *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
 	allErrs := field.ErrorList{}