diff --git a/xds/src/main/java/io/grpc/xds/RingHashLoadBalancerProvider.java b/xds/src/main/java/io/grpc/xds/RingHashLoadBalancerProvider.java
index bb4f8de5a5f..f265b1ba001 100644
--- a/xds/src/main/java/io/grpc/xds/RingHashLoadBalancerProvider.java
+++ b/xds/src/main/java/io/grpc/xds/RingHashLoadBalancerProvider.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import io.grpc.LoadBalancer;
 import io.grpc.LoadBalancer.Helper;
 import io.grpc.LoadBalancerProvider;
+import io.grpc.Metadata;
 import io.grpc.NameResolver.ConfigOrError;
 import io.grpc.Status;
 import io.grpc.internal.GrpcUtil;
@@ -106,6 +107,16 @@ private ConfigOrError parseLoadBalancingPolicyConfigInternal(
       return ConfigOrError.fromError(Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription(
           "Invalid 'minRingSize'/'maxRingSize'"));
     }
+    if (!requestHashHeader.isEmpty()) {
+      // gRFC A76: reject header names that are invalid or refer to a binary (-bin) header.
+      try {
+        requestHashHeader =
+            Metadata.Key.of(requestHashHeader, Metadata.ASCII_STRING_MARSHALLER).name();
+      } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+        return ConfigOrError.fromError(Status.UNAVAILABLE.withDescription(
+            "Invalid 'requestHashHeader': " + requestHashHeader).withCause(e));
+      }
+    }
     return ConfigOrError.fromConfig(
         new RingHashConfig(minRingSize, maxRingSize, requestHashHeader));
   }
diff --git a/xds/src/test/java/io/grpc/xds/RingHashLoadBalancerProviderTest.java b/xds/src/test/java/io/grpc/xds/RingHashLoadBalancerProviderTest.java
index 66c9c5c537e..adc26b982da 100644
--- a/xds/src/test/java/io/grpc/xds/RingHashLoadBalancerProviderTest.java
+++ b/xds/src/test/java/io/grpc/xds/RingHashLoadBalancerProviderTest.java
@@ -281,6 +281,56 @@ public void parseLoadBalancingConfig_requestHashHeaderUnsetWhenEnvVarSet_useDefa
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void parseLoadBalancingConfig_requestHashHeaderWithBinSuffix_rejected()
+      throws IOException {
+    System.setProperty(GRPC_EXPERIMENTAL_RING_HASH_SET_REQUEST_HASH_KEY, "true");
+    try {
+      String lbConfig = "{\"requestHashHeader\" : \"dummy-hash-bin\"}";
+      ConfigOrError configOrError =
+          provider.parseLoadBalancingPolicyConfig(parseJsonObject(lbConfig));
+      assertThat(configOrError.getError()).isNotNull();
+      assertThat(configOrError.getError().getCode()).isEqualTo(Code.UNAVAILABLE);
+      assertThat(configOrError.getError().getDescription())
+          .isEqualTo("Invalid 'requestHashHeader': dummy-hash-bin");
+    } finally {
+      System.clearProperty(GRPC_EXPERIMENTAL_RING_HASH_SET_REQUEST_HASH_KEY);
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void parseLoadBalancingConfig_requestHashHeaderWithInvalidCharacters_rejected()
+      throws IOException {
+    System.setProperty(GRPC_EXPERIMENTAL_RING_HASH_SET_REQUEST_HASH_KEY, "true");
+    try {
+      String lbConfig = "{\"requestHashHeader\" : \"dummy!hash\"}";
+      ConfigOrError configOrError =
+          provider.parseLoadBalancingPolicyConfig(parseJsonObject(lbConfig));
+      assertThat(configOrError.getError()).isNotNull();
+      assertThat(configOrError.getError().getCode()).isEqualTo(Code.UNAVAILABLE);
+      assertThat(configOrError.getError().getDescription())
+          .isEqualTo("Invalid 'requestHashHeader': dummy!hash");
+    } finally {
+      System.clearProperty(GRPC_EXPERIMENTAL_RING_HASH_SET_REQUEST_HASH_KEY);
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void parseLoadBalancingConfig_requestHashHeaderMixedCase_lowerCased()
+      throws IOException {
+    System.setProperty(GRPC_EXPERIMENTAL_RING_HASH_SET_REQUEST_HASH_KEY, "true");
+    try {
+      String lbConfig = "{\"requestHashHeader\" : \"Dummy-Hash\"}";
+      ConfigOrError configOrError =
+          provider.parseLoadBalancingPolicyConfig(parseJsonObject(lbConfig));
+      assertThat(configOrError.getConfig()).isNotNull();
+      RingHashConfig config = (RingHashConfig) configOrError.getConfig();
+      assertThat(config.requestHashHeader).isEqualTo("dummy-hash");
+    } finally {
+      System.clearProperty(GRPC_EXPERIMENTAL_RING_HASH_SET_REQUEST_HASH_KEY);
+    }
+  }
+
   @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
   private static Map<String, ?> parseJsonObject(String json) throws IOException {
     return (Map<String, ?>) JsonParser.parse(json);