diff --git a/apis/v1alpha1/clientsettingspolicy_types.go b/apis/v1alpha1/clientsettingspolicy_types.go
index fe7cdcca9d..dbac5a7115 100644
--- a/apis/v1alpha1/clientsettingspolicy_types.go
+++ b/apis/v1alpha1/clientsettingspolicy_types.go
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ type ClientSettingsPolicySpec struct {
 	// Support: Gateway, HTTPRoute, GRPCRoute.
 	//
 	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message="TargetRef Kind must be one of: Gateway, HTTPRoute, or GRPCRoute",rule="(self.kind=='Gateway' || self.kind=='HTTPRoute' || self.kind=='GRPCRoute')"
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message="TargetRef Group must be gateway.networking.k8s.io.",rule="(self.group=='gateway.networking.k8s.io')"
 	//nolint:lll
 	TargetRef gatewayv1alpha2.PolicyTargetReference `json:"targetRef"`
 
diff --git a/config/crd/bases/gateway.nginx.org_clientsettingspolicies.yaml b/config/crd/bases/gateway.nginx.org_clientsettingspolicies.yaml
index 6fda1b06f1..8ee29cbe58 100644
--- a/config/crd/bases/gateway.nginx.org_clientsettingspolicies.yaml
+++ b/config/crd/bases/gateway.nginx.org_clientsettingspolicies.yaml
@@ -153,6 +153,8 @@ spec:
                 - message: 'TargetRef Kind must be one of: Gateway, HTTPRoute, or
                     GRPCRoute'
                   rule: (self.kind=='Gateway' || self.kind=='HTTPRoute' || self.kind=='GRPCRoute')
+                - message: TargetRef Group must be gateway.networking.k8s.io.
+                  rule: (self.group=='gateway.networking.k8s.io')
             required:
             - targetRef
             type: object
diff --git a/deploy/crds.yaml b/deploy/crds.yaml
index 833fb5acc6..4fca0b3251 100644
--- a/deploy/crds.yaml
+++ b/deploy/crds.yaml
@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@ spec:
                 - message: 'TargetRef Kind must be one of: Gateway, HTTPRoute, or
                     GRPCRoute'
                   rule: (self.kind=='Gateway' || self.kind=='HTTPRoute' || self.kind=='GRPCRoute')
+                - message: TargetRef Group must be gateway.networking.k8s.io.
+                  rule: (self.group=='gateway.networking.k8s.io')
             required:
             - targetRef
             type: object