diff --git a/src/platform/plugins/shared/dashboard/server/api/scope_tooling.test.ts b/src/platform/plugins/shared/dashboard/server/api/scope_tooling.test.ts
index 7659bce086ea2..6e359278522c5 100644
--- a/src/platform/plugins/shared/dashboard/server/api/scope_tooling.test.ts
+++ b/src/platform/plugins/shared/dashboard/server/api/scope_tooling.test.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 
 import { schema } from '@kbn/config-schema';
 import { stripUnmappedKeys, throwOnUnmappedKeys } from './scope_tooling';
-import type { DashboardState } from './types';
 
 const mockGetTransforms = jest.fn();
 
@@ -248,24 +247,6 @@ describe('stripUnmappedKeys', () => {
       }
     `);
   });
-
-  it('should drop pinned_panels', () => {
-    const dashboardState = {
-      pinned_panels: {} as unknown as DashboardState['pinned_panels'],
-      title: 'my dashboard',
-    };
-    expect(stripUnmappedKeys(dashboardState)).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
-      Object {
-        "data": Object {
-          "panels": Array [],
-          "title": "my dashboard",
-        },
-        "warnings": Array [
-          "Dropped unmapped key 'pinned_panels' from dashboard",
-        ],
-      }
-    `);
-  });
 });
 
 describe('throwOnUnmappedKeys', () => {
@@ -343,12 +324,4 @@ describe('throwOnUnmappedKeys', () => {
     };
     expect(() => throwOnUnmappedKeys(dashboardState)).toThrow();
   });
-
-  it('should throw when dashboard contains pinned_panels', () => {
-    const dashboardState = {
-      pinned_panels: {} as unknown as DashboardState['pinned_panels'],
-      title: 'my dashboard',
-    };
-    expect(() => throwOnUnmappedKeys(dashboardState)).toThrow();
-  });
 });
diff --git a/src/platform/plugins/shared/dashboard/server/api/scope_tooling.ts b/src/platform/plugins/shared/dashboard/server/api/scope_tooling.ts
index fc0e72dd23844..80612d537983c 100644
--- a/src/platform/plugins/shared/dashboard/server/api/scope_tooling.ts
+++ b/src/platform/plugins/shared/dashboard/server/api/scope_tooling.ts
@@ -9,16 +9,24 @@
 
 import { isDashboardSection } from '../../common';
 import { embeddableService } from '../kibana_services';
-import type { DashboardPanel, DashboardState } from './types';
+import type {
+  DashboardPanel,
+  DashboardState,
+  DashboardPinnedPanel,
+  DashboardSection,
+} from './types';
+
+function isPinnedPanel(
+  panel: DashboardPanel | DashboardPinnedPanel | DashboardSection
+): panel is DashboardPinnedPanel {
+  return !('grid' in panel);
+}
 
 export function stripUnmappedKeys(dashboardState: DashboardState) {
   const warnings: string[] = [];
   const { pinned_panels, panels, ...rest } = dashboardState;
-  if (pinned_panels) {
-    warnings.push(`Dropped unmapped key 'pinned_panels' from dashboard`);
-  }
 
-  function isMappedPanelType(panel: DashboardPanel) {
+  function isMappedPanelType(panel: DashboardPanel | DashboardPinnedPanel) {
     const transforms = embeddableService?.getTransforms(panel.type);
     if (transforms?.throwOnUnmappedPanel) {
       try {
@@ -58,9 +66,10 @@ export function stripUnmappedKeys(dashboardState: DashboardState) {
     };
   }
 
-  const mappedPanels = (panels ?? [])
+  const mappedPanels = [...(panels ?? []), ...(pinned_panels ?? [])]
     .filter((panel) => isDashboardSection(panel) || isMappedPanelType(panel))
     .map((panel) => {
+      if (isPinnedPanel(panel)) return panel;
       if (!isDashboardSection(panel)) return removeEnhancements(panel);
       const { panels: sectionPanels, ...restOfSection } = panel;
       return {
@@ -79,11 +88,7 @@ export function stripUnmappedKeys(dashboardState: DashboardState) {
 }
 
 export function throwOnUnmappedKeys(dashboardState: DashboardState) {
-  if (dashboardState.pinned_panels) {
-    throw new Error('pinned_panels key is not supported by dashboard REST endpoints.');
-  }
-
-  function throwOnUnmappedPanelKeys(panel: DashboardPanel) {
+  function throwOnUnmappedPanelKeys(panel: DashboardPanel | DashboardPinnedPanel) {
     const transforms = embeddableService?.getTransforms(panel.type);
     const panelSchema = transforms?.schema;
 
@@ -100,7 +105,7 @@ export function throwOnUnmappedKeys(dashboardState: DashboardState) {
     }
   }
 
-  dashboardState.panels?.forEach((panel) => {
+  [...(dashboardState.panels ?? []), ...(dashboardState.pinned_panels ?? [])].forEach((panel) => {
     if (isDashboardSection(panel)) {
       panel.panels.forEach(throwOnUnmappedPanelKeys);
     } else {