diff --git a/pkg/sentry/kernel/kernel.go b/pkg/sentry/kernel/kernel.go
index 05e71fb77a..f9d47122a2 100644
--- a/pkg/sentry/kernel/kernel.go
+++ b/pkg/sentry/kernel/kernel.go
@@ -370,6 +370,9 @@ type Kernel struct {
 	// to be checkpointed. It's protected by checkpointMu.
 	additionalCheckpointState map[any]any
 
+	// containerSpecs stores the specs of all containers.
+	containerSpecs map[any]any
+
 	// saver implements the Saver interface, which (as of writing) supports
 	// asynchronous checkpointing. It's protected by checkpointMu.
 	saver Saver `state:"nosave"`
@@ -1903,6 +1906,29 @@ func (k *Kernel) PopCheckpointState(key any) any {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// AddContainerSpecs adds a key-value pair with key as container ID and value
+// as spec for a container in the kernel.
+func (k *Kernel) AddContainerSpecs(key, v any) {
+	k.checkpointMu.Lock()
+	defer k.checkpointMu.Unlock()
+	if k.containerSpecs == nil {
+		k.containerSpecs = make(map[any]any)
+	}
+	k.containerSpecs[key] = v
+}
+
+// PopContainerSpecs pops all the key-value pairs from the container specs map.
+func (k *Kernel) PopContainerSpecs() map[any]any {
+	k.checkpointMu.Lock()
+	defer k.checkpointMu.Unlock()
+	specs := make(map[any]any)
+	for key, val := range k.containerSpecs {
+		specs[key] = val
+	}
+	k.containerSpecs = nil
+	return specs
+}
+
 // HostMount returns the hostfs mount.
 func (k *Kernel) HostMount() *vfs.Mount {
 	return k.hostMount
diff --git a/runsc/boot/autosave.go b/runsc/boot/autosave.go
index 7027313cae..3110e123a0 100644
--- a/runsc/boot/autosave.go
+++ b/runsc/boot/autosave.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ package boot
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"gvisor.dev/gvisor/pkg/abi/linux"
@@ -54,8 +55,22 @@ func getSaveOpts(l *Loader, k *kernel.Kernel, isResume bool) state.SaveOpts {
 	return saveOpts
 }
 
+func addContainerSpecsToKernel(l *Loader) {
+	l.mu.Lock()
+	defer l.mu.Unlock()
+
+	for k, v := range l.containerSpecs {
+		data, err := json.Marshal(v)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Warningf("json marshal error %v", err)
+		}
+		l.k.AddContainerSpecs(k, data)
+	}
+}
+
 func getTargetForSaveResume(l *Loader) func(k *kernel.Kernel) {
 	return func(k *kernel.Kernel) {
+		addContainerSpecsToKernel(l)
 		saveOpts := getSaveOpts(l, k, true /* isResume */)
 		// Store the state file contents in a buffer for save-resume.
 		// There is no need to verify the state file, we just need the
@@ -74,6 +89,7 @@ func getTargetForSaveRestore(l *Loader, files []*fd.FD) func(k *kernel.Kernel) {
 	var once sync.Once
 	return func(k *kernel.Kernel) {
 		once.Do(func() {
+			addContainerSpecsToKernel(l)
 			saveOpts := getSaveOpts(l, k, false /* isResume */)
 			saveOpts.Destination = files[0]
 			if len(files) == 3 {
diff --git a/runsc/boot/loader.go b/runsc/boot/loader.go
index acec716b43..a126438734 100644
--- a/runsc/boot/loader.go
+++ b/runsc/boot/loader.go
@@ -1941,3 +1941,10 @@ func (l *Loader) containerRuntimeState(cid string) ContainerRuntimeState {
 	// Init process has stopped, but no one has called wait on it yet.
 	return RuntimeStateStopped
 }
+
+// GetAllContainerSpecs returns all container specs.
+func (l *Loader) GetAllContainerSpecs() map[string]*specs.Spec {
+	l.mu.Lock()
+	defer l.mu.Unlock()
+	return l.containerSpecs
+}
diff --git a/runsc/boot/restore.go b/runsc/boot/restore.go
index ccf311e8d1..75b15ccba4 100644
--- a/runsc/boot/restore.go
+++ b/runsc/boot/restore.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 package boot
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -137,6 +138,14 @@ func createNetworkStackForRestore(l *Loader) (*stack.Stack, inet.Stack) {
 	return nil, hostinet.NewStack()
 }
 
+// Validate OCI specs before restoring the containers.
+func validateSpecs(oldSpecs, newSpecs map[string]*specs.Spec) error {
+	if len(oldSpecs) != len(newSpecs) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("incorrect number of specs during checkpoint and restore")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (r *restorer) restore(l *Loader) error {
 	log.Infof("Starting to restore %d containers", len(r.containers))
 
@@ -226,6 +235,21 @@ func (r *restorer) restore(l *Loader) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// Get the old specs from the loaded kernel and validate them with the
+	// new specs in the loader.
+	kSpecs := l.k.PopContainerSpecs()
+	oldSpecs := make(map[string]*specs.Spec)
+	for key, v := range kSpecs {
+		var s specs.Spec
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(v.([]byte), &s); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("json unmarshal error for specs %v", err)
+		}
+		oldSpecs[key.(string)] = &s
+	}
+	if err := validateSpecs(oldSpecs, l.containerSpecs); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	// Since we have a new kernel we also must make a new watchdog.
 	dogOpts := watchdog.DefaultOpts
 	dogOpts.TaskTimeoutAction = l.root.conf.WatchdogAction
@@ -311,6 +335,20 @@ func (r *restorer) restore(l *Loader) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+func (l *Loader) saveSpecsInKernel() error {
+	l.mu.Lock()
+	defer l.mu.Unlock()
+
+	for k, v := range l.containerSpecs {
+		data, err := json.Marshal(v)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("json marshal error for specs %v", err)
+		}
+		l.k.AddContainerSpecs(k, data)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (l *Loader) save(o *control.SaveOpts) (err error) {
 	defer func() {
 		// This closure is required to capture the final value of err.
@@ -328,6 +366,10 @@ func (l *Loader) save(o *control.SaveOpts) (err error) {
 	}
 	o.Metadata["container_count"] = strconv.Itoa(l.containerCount())
 
+	if err := l.saveSpecsInKernel(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("saving specs in kernel failed with error:  %v", err)
+	}
+
 	if err := preSaveImpl(l, o); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}