diff --git a/pkg/base/config.go b/pkg/base/config.go
index 6748f09b9bea..01e817f3a0d3 100644
--- a/pkg/base/config.go
+++ b/pkg/base/config.go
@@ -99,6 +99,10 @@ const (
 	// DefaultDescriptorLeaseRenewalTimeout is the default time
 	// before a lease expires when acquisition to renew the lease begins.
 	DefaultDescriptorLeaseRenewalTimeout = time.Minute
+
+	// DefaultLeaseRenewalCrossValidate is the default setting for if
+	// we should validate descriptors on lease renewals.
+	DefaultLeaseRenewalCrossValidate = true
 )
 
 // DefaultHistogramWindowInterval returns the default rotation window for
diff --git a/pkg/sql/catalog/internal/catkv/descriptors.go b/pkg/sql/catalog/internal/catkv/descriptors.go
index 284dc4a6fb4e..9d55f4958ceb 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/catalog/internal/catkv/descriptors.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/catalog/internal/catkv/descriptors.go
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ func lookupDescriptorsAndValidate(
 	txn *kv.Txn,
 	cq catalogQuerier,
 	vd validate.ValidationDereferencer,
+	targetValidationLevel catalog.ValidationLevel,
 	ids []descpb.ID,
 ) ([]catalog.Descriptor, error) {
 	descs, err := lookupDescriptorsUnvalidated(ctx, txn, cq, ids)
@@ -68,7 +69,7 @@ func lookupDescriptorsAndValidate(
 			txn: txn,
 		}
 	}
-	ve := validate.Validate(ctx, version, vd, catalog.ValidationReadTelemetry, catalog.ValidationLevelCrossReferences, descs...)
+	ve := validate.Validate(ctx, version, vd, catalog.ValidationReadTelemetry, targetValidationLevel, descs...)
 	if err := ve.CombinedError(); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -138,21 +139,23 @@ func MaybeGetDescriptorByID(
 		expectedType: expectedType,
 		codec:        codec,
 	}
-	descs, err := lookupDescriptorsAndValidate(ctx, version, txn, cq, vd, []descpb.ID{id})
+	descs, err := lookupDescriptorsAndValidate(ctx, version, txn, cq, vd, catalog.ValidationLevelCrossReferences, []descpb.ID{id})
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return descs[0], nil
 }
 
-// MustGetDescriptorsByID looks up the descriptors given their IDs,
-// returning an error if any descriptor is not found.
-func MustGetDescriptorsByID(
+// MustGetDescriptorsByIDWithValidationLevel looks up the descriptors given their IDs,
+// returning an error if any descriptor is not found. Descriptors are only
+// validated till the specified validation level.
+func MustGetDescriptorsByIDWithValidationLevel(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	version clusterversion.ClusterVersion,
 	codec keys.SQLCodec,
 	txn *kv.Txn,
 	vd validate.ValidationDereferencer,
+	targetValidationLevel catalog.ValidationLevel,
 	ids []descpb.ID,
 	expectedType catalog.DescriptorType,
 ) ([]catalog.Descriptor, error) {
@@ -161,7 +164,22 @@ func MustGetDescriptorsByID(
 		isRequired:   true,
 		expectedType: expectedType,
 	}
-	return lookupDescriptorsAndValidate(ctx, version, txn, cq, vd, ids)
+	return lookupDescriptorsAndValidate(ctx, version, txn, cq, vd, targetValidationLevel, ids)
+}
+
+// MustGetDescriptorsByID looks up the descriptors given their IDs,
+// returning an error if any descriptor is not found.
+func MustGetDescriptorsByID(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	version clusterversion.ClusterVersion,
+	codec keys.SQLCodec,
+	txn *kv.Txn,
+	vd validate.ValidationDereferencer,
+	ids []descpb.ID,
+	expectedType catalog.DescriptorType,
+) ([]catalog.Descriptor, error) {
+	return MustGetDescriptorsByIDWithValidationLevel(ctx, version, codec, txn, vd, catalog.ValidationLevelCrossReferences, ids, expectedType)
+
 }
 
 // MustGetDescriptorByID looks up the descriptor given its ID,
diff --git a/pkg/sql/catalog/lease/storage.go b/pkg/sql/catalog/lease/storage.go
index 8d42071550bf..2c2fd1ac8de9 100644
--- a/pkg/sql/catalog/lease/storage.go
+++ b/pkg/sql/catalog/lease/storage.go
@@ -67,6 +67,14 @@ var LeaseRenewalDuration = settings.RegisterDurationSetting(
 	"controls the default time before a lease expires when acquisition to renew the lease begins",
 	base.DefaultDescriptorLeaseRenewalTimeout)
 
+// LeaseRenewalCrossValidate controls if cross validation should be done during
+// lease renewal.
+var LeaseRenewalCrossValidate = settings.RegisterBoolSetting(
+	settings.TenantWritable,
+	"sql.catalog.descriptor_lease_renewal_cross_validation.enabled",
+	"controls if cross validation should be done during lease renewal",
+	base.DefaultLeaseRenewalCrossValidate)
+
 func (s storage) leaseRenewalTimeout() time.Duration {
 	return LeaseRenewalDuration.Get(&s.settings.SV)
 }
@@ -80,6 +88,10 @@ func (s storage) jitteredLeaseDuration() time.Duration {
 		2*jitterFraction*rand.Float64()))
 }
 
+func (s storage) crossValidateDuringRenewal() bool {
+	return LeaseRenewalCrossValidate.Get(&s.settings.SV)
+}
+
 // acquire a lease on the most recent version of a descriptor. If the lease
 // cannot be obtained because the descriptor is in the process of being dropped
 // or offline (currently only applicable to tables), the error will be of type
@@ -130,10 +142,15 @@ func (s storage) acquire(
 		}
 
 		version := s.settings.Version.ActiveVersion(ctx)
-		desc, err = catkv.MustGetDescriptorByID(ctx, version, s.codec, txn, nil /* vd */, id, catalog.Any)
+		var validationLevel catalog.ValidationLevel = catalog.ValidationLevelSelfOnly
+		if s.crossValidateDuringRenewal() {
+			validationLevel = catalog.ValidationLevelCrossReferences
+		}
+		descs, err := catkv.MustGetDescriptorsByIDWithValidationLevel(ctx, version, s.codec, txn, nil /* vd */, validationLevel, []descpb.ID{id}, catalog.Any)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		desc = descs[0]
 		if err := catalog.FilterDescriptorState(
 			desc, tree.CommonLookupFlags{IncludeOffline: true}, // filter dropped only
 		); err != nil {