diff --git a/pkg/apis/crds/karpenter.k8s.aws_awsnodetemplates.yaml b/pkg/apis/crds/karpenter.k8s.aws_awsnodetemplates.yaml
index 20cf10f8b3d2..c9d1c6f2e354 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/crds/karpenter.k8s.aws_awsnodetemplates.yaml
+++ b/pkg/apis/crds/karpenter.k8s.aws_awsnodetemplates.yaml
@@ -46,6 +46,9 @@ spec:
                   type: string
                 description: AMISelector discovers AMIs to be used by Amazon EC2 tags.
                 type: object
+                x-kubernetes-validations:
+                - message: Only one of UserData and AMISelector can be provided
+                  rule: '!has(self.AMISelector) || has(self.AMISelector) != has(self.UserData)'
               apiVersion:
                 description: 'APIVersion defines the versioned schema of this representation
                   of an object. Servers should convert recognized schemas to the latest
@@ -215,7 +218,27 @@ spec:
                   will merge certain fields into this UserData to ensure nodes are
                   being provisioned with the correct configuration.
                 type: string
+                x-kubernetes-validations:
+                - message: Only one of UserData and AMISelector can be provided
+                  rule: '!has(self.AMISelector) || has(self.AMISelector) != has(self.UserData)'
             type: object
+            x-kubernetes-validations:
+            - message: If AMIFamily is Custom then AMI Selector must be set
+              rule: '!has(self.AMIFamily) || !self.AMIFamily == "Custom" || has(self.AMISelector)'
+            - message: Only one of AMISelector and LaunchTemplate can be provided
+              rule: '!has(self.AMISelector) || has(self.AMISelector) != has(self.LaunchTemplateName)'
+            - message: AMI ID must be a valid ami-id
+              rule: '!has(self.AMISelector) || !has(self.AMISelector["aws-ids"]) ||
+                self.AMISelector["aws-ids"].matches("^ami-[a-f0-9]{8,17}$")'
+            - message: AMI ID must be a valid ami-id
+              rule: '!has(self.AMISelector) || !has(self.AMISelector["aws::ids"])
+                || self.AMISelector["aws::ids"].matches("^ami-[a-f0-9]{8,17}$")'
+            - message: Tags must not match kubernetes patterns
+              rule: '!has(self.Tags) || !self.Tags.all(e, e.key.matches(''^kubernetes.io/cluster/[0-9A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9\-_]*$''))'
+            - message: Tags must not match karpenter provisioner label
+              rule: '!has(self.Tags) || !self.Tags.all(e, e.key.matches(^karpenter.k8s.aws/provisioner-name$))'
+            - message: Tags must not match karpenter managed by tag
+              rule: '!has(self.Tags) || !self.Tags.all(e, e.key.matches(^karpenter.k8s.aws/machine-managed-by$))'
           status:
             description: AWSNodeTemplateStatus contains the resolved state of the
               AWSNodeTemplate
diff --git a/pkg/apis/v1alpha1/awsnodetemplate.go b/pkg/apis/v1alpha1/awsnodetemplate.go
index 7722bdf8443b..77a15333f885 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/v1alpha1/awsnodetemplate.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/v1alpha1/awsnodetemplate.go
@@ -78,10 +78,12 @@ type AWSNodeTemplateSpec struct {
 	// It must be in the appropriate format based on the AMIFamily in use. Karpenter will merge certain fields into
 	// this UserData to ensure nodes are being provisioned with the correct configuration.
 	// +optional
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message=Only one of UserData and AMISelector can be provided,rule=!has(self.AMISelector) || has(self.AMISelector) != has(self.UserData)
 	UserData *string `json:"userData,omitempty"`
 	AWS      `json:",inline"`
 	// AMISelector discovers AMIs to be used by Amazon EC2 tags.
 	// +optional
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message=Only one of UserData and AMISelector can be provided,rule=!has(self.AMISelector) || has(self.AMISelector) != has(self.UserData)
 	AMISelector map[string]string `json:"amiSelector,omitempty" hash:"ignore"`
 	// DetailedMonitoring controls if detailed monitoring is enabled for instances that are launched
 	// +optional
@@ -96,6 +98,13 @@ type AWSNodeTemplate struct {
 	metav1.TypeMeta   `json:",inline"`
 	metav1.ObjectMeta `json:"metadata,omitempty"`
 
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message=If AMIFamily is Custom then AMI Selector must be set,rule=!has(self.AMIFamily) || !self.AMIFamily == "Custom" || has(self.AMISelector)
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message=Only one of AMISelector and LaunchTemplate can be provided,rule=!has(self.AMISelector) || has(self.AMISelector) != has(self.LaunchTemplateName)
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message=AMI ID must be a valid ami-id,rule=!has(self.AMISelector) || !has(self.AMISelector["aws-ids"]) || self.AMISelector["aws-ids"].matches("^ami-[a-f0-9]{8,17}$")
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message=AMI ID must be a valid ami-id,rule=!has(self.AMISelector) || !has(self.AMISelector["aws::ids"]) || self.AMISelector["aws::ids"].matches("^ami-[a-f0-9]{8,17}$")
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message=Tags must not match kubernetes patterns,rule="!has(self.Tags) || !self.Tags.all(e, e.key.matches('^kubernetes.io/cluster/[0-9A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9\\-_]*$'))"
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message=Tags must not match karpenter provisioner label,rule="!has(self.Tags) || !self.Tags.all(e, e.key.matches(^karpenter.k8s.aws/provisioner-name$))"
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message=Tags must not match karpenter managed by tag,rule="!has(self.Tags) || !self.Tags.all(e, e.key.matches(^karpenter.k8s.aws/machine-managed-by$))"
 	Spec   AWSNodeTemplateSpec   `json:"spec,omitempty"`
 	Status AWSNodeTemplateStatus `json:"status,omitempty"`
 }