diff --git a/docs/customization/custom-checks.md b/docs/customization/custom-checks.md
index 33693bbb..e1dba81c 100644
--- a/docs/customization/custom-checks.md
+++ b/docs/customization/custom-checks.md
@@ -134,6 +134,8 @@ schema:
               const: "{{ .metadata.name }}"
 ```
 
+Note that the object available via the template is the full object, and not the object implied by the `target`. A check that specifies `target: PodSpec` can directly access the pod specification via the built-in template variable `.Polaris.PodSpec`.
+
 You can also use the full [Go template syntax](https://golang.org/pkg/text/template/), though
 you may need to specify your schema as a string in order to use concepts like `range`. E.g.
 this check ensures that at least one of the object's labels is present in `matchLabels`:
diff --git a/pkg/kube/resources.go b/pkg/kube/resources.go
index 344b8850..6e390e82 100644
--- a/pkg/kube/resources.go
+++ b/pkg/kube/resources.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ package kube
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
@@ -475,3 +476,17 @@ func (resources *ResourceProvider) addResourceFromString(contents string) error
 	}
 	return err
 }
+
+// SerializePod converts a typed PodSpec into a map[string]interface{}
+func SerializePod(pod *corev1.PodSpec) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
+	podJSON, err := json.Marshal(pod)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	podMap := make(map[string]interface{})
+	err = json.Unmarshal(podJSON, &podMap)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return podMap, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/validator/schema.go b/pkg/validator/schema.go
index fc3b1f95..111da610 100644
--- a/pkg/validator/schema.go
+++ b/pkg/validator/schema.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"gomodules.xyz/jsonpatch/v2"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	metaV1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
 
 	"github.com/fairwindsops/polaris/pkg/config"
 	"github.com/fairwindsops/polaris/pkg/kube"
@@ -64,13 +65,38 @@ func resolveCheck(conf *config.Configuration, checkID string, test schemaTestCas
 	if !check.IsActionable(test.Target, test.Resource.Kind, test.IsInitContianer) {
 		return nil, nil
 	}
-	checkPtr, err := check.TemplateForResource(test.Resource.Resource.Object)
+	templateInput, err := getTemplateInput(test)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	checkPtr, err := check.TemplateForResource(templateInput)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	return checkPtr, nil
 }
 
+// getTemplateInput augments a schemaTestCase.Resource.Resource.Object with
+// Polaris built-in variables. The result can be used as input for
+// CheckSchema.TemplateForResource().
+func getTemplateInput(test schemaTestCase) (map[string]interface{}, error) {
+	templateInput := test.Resource.Resource.Object
+	if templateInput == nil {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	if test.Target == config.TargetPodSpec {
+		podSpecMap, err := kube.SerializePod(test.Resource.PodSpec)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		err = unstructured.SetNestedMap(templateInput, podSpecMap, "Polaris", "PodSpec")
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+	}
+	return templateInput, nil
+}
+
 func makeResult(conf *config.Configuration, check *config.SchemaCheck, passes bool, issues []jsonschema.ValError) ResultMessage {
 	details := []string{}
 	for _, issue := range issues {