diff --git a/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/decision.go b/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/decision.go
index 63812c7a13c3f..b922d42e4dd86 100644
--- a/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/decision.go
+++ b/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/decision.go
@@ -26,10 +26,10 @@ import (
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/reflect/protoreflect"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/types/known/structpb"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation"
 
 	workloadidentityv1pb "github.com/gravitational/teleport/api/gen/proto/go/teleport/workloadidentity/v1"
 	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/expression"
-	"github.com/gravitational/teleport/lib/utils"
 )
 
 type decision struct {
@@ -39,6 +39,17 @@ type decision struct {
 	sigstorePolicyResults     map[string]error
 }
 
+// validDNSSAN returns if the string is a valid value for a DNS SAN. This
+// permits not only valid DNS 1123 subdomains but also wildcards of those.
+func validDNSSAN(str string) bool {
+	isValidDomain := len(validation.IsDNS1123Subdomain(str)) == 0
+	isValidWildcard := len(validation.IsWildcardDNS1123Subdomain(str)) == 0
+	if isValidDomain || isValidWildcard {
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 func decide(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	wi *workloadidentityv1pb.WorkloadIdentity,
@@ -78,9 +89,9 @@ func decide(
 			d.reason = trace.Wrap(err, "templating spec.spiffe.x509.dns_sans[%d]", i)
 			return d
 		}
-		if !utils.IsValidHostname(templated) {
+		if !validDNSSAN(templated) {
 			d.reason = trace.BadParameter(
-				"templating spec.spiffe.x509.dns_sans[%d] resulted in an invalid DNS name %q",
+				"templating spec.spiffe.x509.dns_sans[%d] resulted in an invalid DNS SAN %q",
 				i,
 				templated,
 			)
diff --git a/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/decision_test.go b/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/decision_test.go
index 4c87199240fcd..b04868769d388 100644
--- a/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/decision_test.go
+++ b/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/decision_test.go
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ func Test_decide(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			attrs:     standardAttrs,
 			wantIssue: false,
-			assertReason: func(t require.TestingT, err error, i ...interface{}) {
-				require.ErrorContains(t, err, "templating spec.spiffe.x509.dns_sans[0] resulted in an invalid DNS name")
+			assertReason: func(t require.TestingT, err error, i ...any) {
+				require.ErrorContains(t, err, "templating spec.spiffe.x509.dns_sans[0] resulted in an invalid DNS SAN")
 			},
 		},
 	}
@@ -599,3 +599,44 @@ func TestTemplateExtraClaims_TooDeeplyNested(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err = templateExtraClaims(rawClaims, &workloadidentityv1pb.Attrs{})
 	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "cannot contain more than 10 levels of nesting")
 }
+
+func Test_validDNSSAN(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		str  string
+		want bool
+	}{
+		{
+			str:  "example.com",
+			want: true,
+		},
+		{
+			// Single-label domain name. An unusual case but important since we
+			// may be issuing certs for hostnames in a local network (which will
+			// not abide by usual public internet dns semantics).
+			str:  "example",
+			want: true,
+		},
+		{
+			// DNS 1123 permits numeric characters at start (unlike RFC 1035)
+			str:  "123-example.com",
+			want: true,
+		},
+		{
+			str:  "*.example.com",
+			want: true,
+		},
+		{
+			str:  "*example.com",
+			want: false,
+		},
+		{
+			str:  ".example.com",
+			want: false,
+		},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.str, func(t *testing.T) {
+			require.Equal(t, tt.want, validDNSSAN(tt.str))
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/workloadidentityv1_test.go b/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/workloadidentityv1_test.go
index 482e669bdd6b8..fe9558c273234 100644
--- a/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/workloadidentityv1_test.go
+++ b/lib/auth/machineid/workloadidentityv1/workloadidentityv1_test.go
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ func TestIssueWorkloadIdentity(t *testing.T) {
 				Hint: "Wow - what a lovely hint, {{user.name}}!",
 				X509: &workloadidentityv1pb.WorkloadIdentitySPIFFEX509{
 					DnsSans: []string{
-						"example.com",
+						"*.example.com",
 						"{{user.name}}.example.com",
 					},
 				},
@@ -838,7 +838,7 @@ func TestIssueWorkloadIdentity(t *testing.T) {
 				require.WithinDuration(t, tp.clock.Now().Add(-1*time.Minute), cert.NotBefore, time.Second)
 				// Check cert TTL
 				require.Equal(t, cert.NotAfter.Sub(cert.NotBefore), wantTTL+time.Minute)
-				require.Equal(t, []string{"example.com", "dog.example.com"}, cert.DNSNames)
+				require.Equal(t, []string{"*.example.com", "dog.example.com"}, cert.DNSNames)
 
 				// Check against SPIFFE SPEC
 				// References are to https://github.com/spiffe/spiffe/blob/main/standards/X509-SVID.md
@@ -889,7 +889,7 @@ func TestIssueWorkloadIdentity(t *testing.T) {
 						WorkloadIdentity:         full.GetMetadata().GetName(),
 						WorkloadIdentityRevision: full.GetMetadata().GetRevision(),
 						DNSSANs: []string{
-							"example.com",
+							"*.example.com",
 							"dog.example.com",
 						},
 						NameSelector: full.GetMetadata().GetName(),