diff --git a/pkg/registry/flowcontrol/prioritylevelconfiguration/strategy.go b/pkg/registry/flowcontrol/prioritylevelconfiguration/strategy.go
index b400b8cf71d..2989810b533 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/flowcontrol/prioritylevelconfiguration/strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/flowcontrol/prioritylevelconfiguration/strategy.go
@@ -121,7 +121,6 @@ func (priorityLevelConfigurationStrategy) AllowCreateOnUpdate() bool {
 // ValidateUpdate is the default update validation for an end user.
 func (priorityLevelConfigurationStrategy) ValidateUpdate(ctx context.Context, obj, old runtime.Object) field.ErrorList {
 	newPL := obj.(*flowcontrol.PriorityLevelConfiguration)
-	_ = old.(*flowcontrol.PriorityLevelConfiguration)
 
 	// 1.28 server is not aware of the roundtrip annotation, and will
 	// default any 0 value persisted (for the NominalConcurrencyShares
diff --git a/pkg/registry/scheduling/podgroup/strategy.go b/pkg/registry/scheduling/podgroup/strategy.go
index fb83a876e10..754320c7158 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/scheduling/podgroup/strategy.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/scheduling/podgroup/strategy.go
@@ -75,17 +75,6 @@ func (*podGroupStrategy) Validate(ctx context.Context, obj runtime.Object) field
 	return validation.ValidatePodGroup(podGroup)
 }
 
-// DeclarativeValidationConfig implements rest.DeclarativeValidationConfigurer to supply declarative
-// validation options to the generic BeforeCreate/BeforeUpdate code path.
-//
-// TODO: Behavior drift introduced when wiring declarative validation
-// universally: the status substrategy embeds *podGroupStrategy and now
-// inherits this method, so status updates pick up the full feature-gated
-// options list and rest.WithDeclarativeEnforcement(). Previously the
-// pre-migration inline call on the status subresource only passed
-// WithDeclarativeEnforcement() (no options list). The change is additive but
-// should be reviewed; if the status subresource should not see these
-// options, override ValidationConfig on podGroupStatusStrategy.
 func (*podGroupStrategy) DeclarativeValidationConfig(ctx context.Context, obj, oldObj runtime.Object) rest.DeclarativeValidationConfig {
 	opts := []string{}
 	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.TopologyAwareWorkloadScheduling) {
@@ -97,7 +86,7 @@ func (*podGroupStrategy) DeclarativeValidationConfig(ctx context.Context, obj, o
 	if utilfeature.DefaultFeatureGate.Enabled(features.WorkloadAwarePreemption) {
 		opts = append(opts, string(features.WorkloadAwarePreemption))
 	}
-	return rest.DeclarativeValidationConfig{DeclarativeEnforcement: true, Options: opts}
+	return rest.DeclarativeValidationConfig{Options: opts}
 }
 
 func (*podGroupStrategy) WarningsOnCreate(ctx context.Context, obj runtime.Object) []string {
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/validate.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/validate.go
index c8b537e510d..948386eafee 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/validate.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/validate.go
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ type DeclarativeValidation struct {
 
 func (d DeclarativeValidation) ValidateDeclaratively(ctx context.Context, obj, oldObj runtime.Object, validationErrs field.ErrorList, opType operation.Type, config DeclarativeValidationConfig) field.ErrorList {
 	if d.Scheme == nil {
+		validationErrs = append(validationErrs, field.InternalError(nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot validate declaratively without a scheme")))
 		return validationErrs
 	}
 	return ValidateDeclarativelyWithMigrationChecks(ctx, d.Scheme, obj, oldObj, validationErrs, opType, config)
@@ -337,11 +338,9 @@ func createDeclarativeValidationPanicHandler(ctx context.Context, errs *field.Er
 // if shouldFail=false, and adding a validation error if shouldFail=true.
 func panicSafeValidateFunc(
 	validateFunc func(ctx context.Context, scheme *runtime.Scheme, obj, oldObj runtime.Object, o *ValidationConfigOption) field.ErrorList,
-	shouldFail bool, validationIdentifier string,
 ) func(ctx context.Context, scheme *runtime.Scheme, obj, oldObj runtime.Object, o *ValidationConfigOption) field.ErrorList {
 	return func(ctx context.Context, scheme *runtime.Scheme, obj, oldObj runtime.Object, o *ValidationConfigOption) (errs field.ErrorList) {
-		defer createDeclarativeValidationPanicHandler(ctx, &errs, shouldFail, validationIdentifier)()
-
+		defer createDeclarativeValidationPanicHandler(ctx, &errs, o.DeclarativeEnforcement, o.ValidationIdentifier)()
 		return validateFunc(ctx, scheme, obj, oldObj, o)
 	}
 }
@@ -422,7 +421,7 @@ func ValidateDeclarativelyWithMigrationChecks(ctx context.Context, scheme *runti
 
 	// Call the panic-safe wrapper with the real validation function.
 	// We should fail if validation is enforced.
-	declarativeErrs := panicSafeValidateFunc(validateDeclaratively, cfg.DeclarativeEnforcement, cfg.ValidationIdentifier)(ctx, scheme, obj, oldObj, cfg)
+	declarativeErrs := panicSafeValidateFunc(validateDeclaratively)(ctx, scheme, obj, oldObj, cfg)
 
 	if declarativeValidationEnabled {
 		// Log mismatches.
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/validate_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/validate_test.go
index c38c2b790f1..1ea2386fe4a 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/validate_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/registry/rest/validate_test.go
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ func TestValidateDeclaratively(t *testing.T) {
 				cfg.OpType = operation.Update
 			}
 			// takeover is not used here, passing false for shouldFail
-			results := panicSafeValidateFunc(validateDeclaratively, false, cfg.ValidationIdentifier)(ctx, scheme, tc.object, tc.oldObject, cfg)
+			results := panicSafeValidateFunc(validateDeclaratively)(ctx, scheme, tc.object, tc.oldObject, cfg)
 			matcher := field.ErrorMatcher{}.ByType().ByField().ByOrigin()
 			matcher.Test(t, tc.expected, results)
 		})
@@ -503,8 +503,8 @@ func TestWithRecover(t *testing.T) {
 			defer klog.LogToStderr(true)
 
 			// Pass the enforcement flag to panicSafeValidateFunc
-			wrapped := panicSafeValidateFunc(tc.validateFn, tc.enforcementEnabled, "test_validationIdentifier")
-			gotErrs := wrapped(ctx, scheme, obj, nil, &ValidationConfigOption{OpType: operation.Create, DeclarativeValidationConfig: DeclarativeValidationConfig{Options: options}})
+			wrapped := panicSafeValidateFunc(tc.validateFn)
+			gotErrs := wrapped(ctx, scheme, obj, nil, &ValidationConfigOption{ValidationIdentifier: "test_validationIdentifier", OpType: operation.Create, DeclarativeValidationConfig: DeclarativeValidationConfig{Options: options, DeclarativeEnforcement: tc.enforcementEnabled}})
 
 			klog.Flush()
 			logOutput := buf.String()
@@ -597,8 +597,8 @@ func TestWithRecoverUpdate(t *testing.T) {
 			defer klog.LogToStderr(true)
 
 			// Pass the enforcement flag to panicSafeValidateUpdateFunc
-			wrapped := panicSafeValidateFunc(tc.validateFn, tc.enforcementEnabled, "test_validationIdentifier")
-			gotErrs := wrapped(ctx, scheme, obj, oldObj, &ValidationConfigOption{OpType: operation.Update, DeclarativeValidationConfig: DeclarativeValidationConfig{Options: options}})
+			wrapped := panicSafeValidateFunc(tc.validateFn)
+			gotErrs := wrapped(ctx, scheme, obj, oldObj, &ValidationConfigOption{ValidationIdentifier: "test_validationIdentifier", OpType: operation.Update, DeclarativeValidationConfig: DeclarativeValidationConfig{Options: options, DeclarativeEnforcement: tc.enforcementEnabled}})
 
 			klog.Flush()
 			logOutput := buf.String()