diff --git a/internal/catalog/internal/types/validators.go b/internal/catalog/internal/types/validators.go
index 94691107f9..a9934156e2 100644
--- a/internal/catalog/internal/types/validators.go
+++ b/internal/catalog/internal/types/validators.go
@@ -139,7 +139,9 @@ func validatePortName(name string) error {
 
 func validateProtocol(protocol pbcatalog.Protocol) error {
 	switch protocol {
-	case pbcatalog.Protocol_PROTOCOL_TCP,
+	case pbcatalog.Protocol_PROTOCOL_UNSPECIFIED,
+		// means pbcatalog.FailoverMode_FAILOVER_MODE_TCP
+		pbcatalog.Protocol_PROTOCOL_TCP,
 		pbcatalog.Protocol_PROTOCOL_HTTP,
 		pbcatalog.Protocol_PROTOCOL_HTTP2,
 		pbcatalog.Protocol_PROTOCOL_GRPC,
diff --git a/internal/catalog/internal/types/validators_test.go b/internal/catalog/internal/types/validators_test.go
index a3790e9f9e..d62c675cf9 100644
--- a/internal/catalog/internal/types/validators_test.go
+++ b/internal/catalog/internal/types/validators_test.go
@@ -334,6 +334,26 @@ func TestValidatePortName(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 }
 
+func TestValidateProtocol(t *testing.T) {
+	// this test simply verifies that we accept all enum values specified in our proto
+	// in order to avoid validator drift.
+	for name, value := range pbcatalog.Protocol_value {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			require.NoError(t, validateProtocol(pbcatalog.Protocol(value)))
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestValidateHealth(t *testing.T) {
+	// this test simply verifies that we accept all enum values specified in our proto
+	// in order to avoid validator drift.
+	for name, value := range pbcatalog.Health_value {
+		t.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			require.NoError(t, validateHealth(pbcatalog.Health(value)))
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestValidateWorkloadAddress(t *testing.T) {
 	type testCase struct {
 		addr        *pbcatalog.WorkloadAddress