diff --git a/pkg/apis/meta/v1/validation/validation.go b/pkg/apis/meta/v1/validation/validation.go
index a0f709ad8..3eba5ba54 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/meta/v1/validation/validation.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/meta/v1/validation/validation.go
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ import (
 type LabelSelectorValidationOptions struct {
 	// Allow invalid label value in selector
 	AllowInvalidLabelValueInSelector bool
+
+	// Allows an operator that is not interpretable to pass validation.  This is useful for cases where a broader check
+	// can be performed, as in a *SubjectAccessReview
+	AllowUnknownOperatorInRequirement bool
 }
 
 // LabelSelectorHasInvalidLabelValue returns true if the given selector contains an invalid label value in a match expression.
@@ -79,7 +83,9 @@ func ValidateLabelSelectorRequirement(sr metav1.LabelSelectorRequirement, opts L
 			allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Forbidden(fldPath.Child("values"), "may not be specified when `operator` is 'Exists' or 'DoesNotExist'"))
 		}
 	default:
-		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldPath.Child("operator"), sr.Operator, "not a valid selector operator"))
+		if !opts.AllowUnknownOperatorInRequirement {
+			allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldPath.Child("operator"), sr.Operator, "not a valid selector operator"))
+		}
 	}
 	allErrs = append(allErrs, ValidateLabelName(sr.Key, fldPath.Child("key"))...)
 	if !opts.AllowInvalidLabelValueInSelector {
@@ -113,6 +119,39 @@ func ValidateLabels(labels map[string]string, fldPath *field.Path) field.ErrorLi
 	return allErrs
 }
 
+// FieldSelectorValidationOptions is a struct that can be passed to ValidateFieldSelectorRequirement to record the validate options
+type FieldSelectorValidationOptions struct {
+	// Allows an operator that is not interpretable to pass validation.  This is useful for cases where a broader check
+	// can be performed, as in a *SubjectAccessReview
+	AllowUnknownOperatorInRequirement bool
+}
+
+// ValidateLabelSelectorRequirement validates the requirement according to the opts and returns any validation errors.
+func ValidateFieldSelectorRequirement(requirement metav1.FieldSelectorRequirement, opts FieldSelectorValidationOptions, fldPath *field.Path) field.ErrorList {
+	allErrs := field.ErrorList{}
+
+	if len(requirement.Key) == 0 {
+		allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Required(fldPath.Child("key"), "must be specified"))
+	}
+
+	switch requirement.Operator {
+	case metav1.FieldSelectorOpIn, metav1.FieldSelectorOpNotIn:
+		if len(requirement.Values) == 0 {
+			allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Required(fldPath.Child("values"), "must be specified when `operator` is 'In' or 'NotIn'"))
+		}
+	case metav1.FieldSelectorOpExists, metav1.FieldSelectorOpDoesNotExist:
+		if len(requirement.Values) > 0 {
+			allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Forbidden(fldPath.Child("values"), "may not be specified when `operator` is 'Exists' or 'DoesNotExist'"))
+		}
+	default:
+		if !opts.AllowUnknownOperatorInRequirement {
+			allErrs = append(allErrs, field.Invalid(fldPath.Child("operator"), requirement.Operator, "not a valid selector operator"))
+		}
+	}
+
+	return allErrs
+}
+
 func ValidateDeleteOptions(options *metav1.DeleteOptions) field.ErrorList {
 	allErrs := field.ErrorList{}
 	//lint:file-ignore SA1019 Keep validation for deprecated OrphanDependents option until it's being removed
diff --git a/pkg/apis/meta/v1/validation/validation_test.go b/pkg/apis/meta/v1/validation/validation_test.go
index e9c6c1616..3296d4f61 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/meta/v1/validation/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/meta/v1/validation/validation_test.go
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ func TestLabelSelectorMatchExpression(t *testing.T) {
 	}}
 	for index, testCase := range testCases {
 		t.Run(testCase.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			allErrs := ValidateLabelSelector(testCase.labelSelector, LabelSelectorValidationOptions{false}, field.NewPath("labelSelector"))
+			allErrs := ValidateLabelSelector(testCase.labelSelector, LabelSelectorValidationOptions{AllowInvalidLabelValueInSelector: false}, field.NewPath("labelSelector"))
 			if len(allErrs) != testCase.wantErrorNumber {
 				t.Errorf("case[%d]: expected failure", index)
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/labels/selector.go b/pkg/labels/selector.go
index 5e6014240..9e22a0056 100644
--- a/pkg/labels/selector.go
+++ b/pkg/labels/selector.go
@@ -45,6 +45,19 @@ var (
 // Requirements is AND of all requirements.
 type Requirements []Requirement
 
+func (r Requirements) String() string {
+	var sb strings.Builder
+
+	for i, requirement := range r {
+		if i > 0 {
+			sb.WriteString(", ")
+		}
+		sb.WriteString(requirement.String())
+	}
+
+	return sb.String()
+}
+
 // Selector represents a label selector.
 type Selector interface {
 	// Matches returns true if this selector matches the given set of labels.
@@ -285,6 +298,13 @@ func (r *Requirement) Values() sets.String {
 	return ret
 }
 
+// ValuesUnsorted returns a copy of requirement values as passed to NewRequirement without sorting.
+func (r *Requirement) ValuesUnsorted() []string {
+	ret := make([]string, 0, len(r.strValues))
+	ret = append(ret, r.strValues...)
+	return ret
+}
+
 // Equal checks the equality of requirement.
 func (r Requirement) Equal(x Requirement) bool {
 	if r.key != x.key {