diff --git a/internal/config/features.go b/internal/config/features.go
index 913f14525..7ec55aa1a 100644
--- a/internal/config/features.go
+++ b/internal/config/features.go
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ type features struct {
 	// If this feature flag is not set to 'true' only host-rooted config paths
 	// (i.e. paths starting with an '@' are considered valid)
 	AllowLDConfigFromContainer *feature `toml:"allow-ldconfig-from-container,omitempty"`
+	// AllowUnknownOCISpecFields allows the nvidia-container-runtime to ignore
+	// unknown fields when loading the config (OCI spec) associated with a
+	// container.
+	// If this is enabled, these fields are silently dropped.
+	AllowUnknownOCISpecFields *feature `toml:"allow-unknown-oci-spec-fields,omitempty"`
 	// DisableCUDACompatLibHook, when enabled skips the injection of a specific
 	// hook to process CUDA compatibility libraries.
 	//
diff --git a/internal/oci/options.go b/internal/oci/options.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f9e469aff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/oci/options.go
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/**
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+**/
+
+package oci
+
+import "github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit/internal/logger"
+
+type options struct {
+	logger            logger.Interface
+	allowUnkownFields bool
+}
+
+type Option func(*options)
+
+func WithLogger(logger logger.Interface) Option {
+	return func(o *options) {
+		o.logger = logger
+	}
+}
+
+func WithAllowUnknownFields(allowUnknownFields bool) Option {
+	return func(o *options) {
+		o.allowUnkownFields = allowUnknownFields
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/oci/spec.go b/internal/oci/spec.go
index 1e2c144a7..73030b76d 100644
--- a/internal/oci/spec.go
+++ b/internal/oci/spec.go
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-spec/specs-go"
-
-	"github.com/NVIDIA/nvidia-container-toolkit/internal/logger"
 )
 
 // SpecModifier defines an interface for modifying a (raw) OCI spec
@@ -49,17 +47,24 @@ type Spec interface {
 
 // NewSpec creates fileSpec based on the command line arguments passed to the
 // application using the specified logger.
-func NewSpec(logger logger.Interface, args []string) (Spec, error) {
+func NewSpec(args []string, opts ...Option) (Spec, error) {
+	o := &options{
+		allowUnkownFields: false,
+	}
+	for _, opt := range opts {
+		opt(o)
+	}
+
 	bundleDir, err := GetBundleDir(args)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error getting bundle directory: %v", err)
 	}
-	logger.Debugf("Using bundle directory: %v", bundleDir)
+	o.logger.Debugf("Using bundle directory: %v", bundleDir)
 
 	ociSpecPath := GetSpecFilePath(bundleDir)
-	logger.Infof("Using OCI specification file path: %v", ociSpecPath)
+	o.logger.Infof("Using OCI specification file path: %v", ociSpecPath)
 
-	ociSpec := NewFileSpec(ociSpecPath)
+	ociSpec := NewFileSpec(ociSpecPath, !o.allowUnkownFields)
 
 	return ociSpec, nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/oci/spec_file.go b/internal/oci/spec_file.go
index 8784ae922..d108e56c0 100644
--- a/internal/oci/spec_file.go
+++ b/internal/oci/spec_file.go
@@ -28,16 +28,28 @@ import (
 type fileSpec struct {
 	memorySpec
 	path string
+	loader
 }
 
+type loader bool
+
+const (
+	strictLoader = loader(true)
+)
+
 var _ Spec = (*fileSpec)(nil)
 
 // NewFileSpec creates an object that encapsulates a file-backed OCI spec.
 // This can be used to read from the file, modify the spec, and write to the
 // same file.
-func NewFileSpec(filepath string) Spec {
+func NewFileSpec(filepath string, isStrict bool) Spec {
+	var loader loader
+	if isStrict {
+		loader = strictLoader
+	}
 	oci := fileSpec{
-		path: filepath,
+		path:   filepath,
+		loader: loader,
 	}
 
 	return &oci
@@ -52,7 +64,7 @@ func (s *fileSpec) Load() (*specs.Spec, error) {
 	}
 	defer specFile.Close()
 
-	spec, err := LoadFrom(specFile)
+	spec, err := s.loadFrom(specFile)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error loading OCI specification from file: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -61,8 +73,11 @@ func (s *fileSpec) Load() (*specs.Spec, error) {
 }
 
 // LoadFrom reads the contents of the OCI spec from the specified io.Reader.
-func LoadFrom(reader io.Reader) (*specs.Spec, error) {
+func (isStrict loader) loadFrom(reader io.Reader) (*specs.Spec, error) {
 	decoder := json.NewDecoder(reader)
+	if isStrict {
+		decoder.DisallowUnknownFields()
+	}
 
 	var spec specs.Spec
 
diff --git a/internal/oci/spec_file_test.go b/internal/oci/spec_file_test.go
index e1c1fe0f3..ca1ef6258 100644
--- a/internal/oci/spec_file_test.go
+++ b/internal/oci/spec_file_test.go
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func TestLoadFrom(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for i, tc := range testCases {
 		var spec *specs.Spec
-		spec, err := LoadFrom(bytes.NewReader(tc.contents))
+		spec, err := strictLoader.loadFrom(bytes.NewReader(tc.contents))
 
 		if tc.isError {
 			require.Error(t, err, "%d: %v", i, tc)
diff --git a/internal/oci/spec_test.go b/internal/oci/spec_test.go
index f11493785..e083966a8 100644
--- a/internal/oci/spec_test.go
+++ b/internal/oci/spec_test.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ func TestMaintainSpec(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, f := range files {
 		inputSpecPath := filepath.Join(moduleRoot, "tests/input", f)
 
-		spec := NewFileSpec(inputSpecPath).(*fileSpec)
+		spec := NewFileSpec(inputSpecPath, true).(*fileSpec)
 
 		_, err := spec.Load()
 		require.NoError(t, err)
diff --git a/internal/oci/state.go b/internal/oci/state.go
index 2bb4e6e53..411bb306c 100644
--- a/internal/oci/state.go
+++ b/internal/oci/state.go
@@ -56,26 +56,10 @@ func ReadContainerState(reader io.Reader) (*State, error) {
 	return &s, nil
 }
 
-// LoadSpec loads the OCI spec associated with the container state
-func (s *State) LoadSpec() (*specs.Spec, error) {
-	specFilePath := GetSpecFilePath(s.Bundle)
-	specFile, err := os.Open(specFilePath)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to open OCI spec file: %v", err)
-	}
-	defer specFile.Close()
-
-	spec, err := LoadFrom(specFile)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load OCI spec: %v", err)
-	}
-	return spec, nil
-}
-
 // GetContainerRoot returns the root for the container from the associated spec. If the spec is not yet loaded, it is
 // loaded and cached.
 func (s *State) GetContainerRoot() (string, error) {
-	spec, err := s.LoadSpec()
+	spec, err := s.loadMinimalSpec()
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
@@ -91,3 +75,27 @@ func (s *State) GetContainerRoot() (string, error) {
 
 	return filepath.Join(s.Bundle, containerRoot), nil
 }
+
+// loadMinimalSpec loads a reduced OCI spec associated with the container state.
+func (s *State) loadMinimalSpec() (*minimalSpec, error) {
+	specFilePath := GetSpecFilePath(s.Bundle)
+	specFile, err := os.Open(specFilePath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to open OCI spec file: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer specFile.Close()
+
+	ms := &minimalSpec{}
+	if err := json.NewDecoder(specFile).Decode(ms); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load minimal OCI spec: %v", err)
+	}
+	return ms, nil
+}
+
+// A minimalSpec is used to return desired properties from the container config.
+// We define this here instead of using specs.Spec as is to avoid decoding
+// unneeded fields in container lifecycle hooks.
+type minimalSpec struct {
+	// Root configures the container's root filesystem.
+	Root *specs.Root `json:"root,omitempty"`
+}
diff --git a/internal/runtime/runtime_factory.go b/internal/runtime/runtime_factory.go
index dc6424c36..bb232a27e 100644
--- a/internal/runtime/runtime_factory.go
+++ b/internal/runtime/runtime_factory.go
@@ -42,7 +42,10 @@ func newNVIDIAContainerRuntime(logger logger.Interface, cfg *config.Config, argv
 		return lowLevelRuntime, nil
 	}
 
-	ociSpec, err := oci.NewSpec(logger, argv)
+	ociSpec, err := oci.NewSpec(argv,
+		oci.WithLogger(logger),
+		oci.WithAllowUnknownFields(cfg.Features.AllowUnknownOCISpecFields.IsEnabled()),
+	)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error constructing OCI specification: %v", err)
 	}