diff --git a/pkg/registry/apis/collections/datasources_validator.go b/pkg/registry/apis/collections/datasources_validator.go
index 187523b1335..7e8eab7d255 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/apis/collections/datasources_validator.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/apis/collections/datasources_validator.go
@@ -3,18 +3,23 @@ package collections
 import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
+	"net/http"
 
 	collections "github.com/grafana/grafana/apps/collections/pkg/apis/collections/v1alpha1"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/apiserver"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/apiserver/builder"
 	"k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/admission"
+	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
 )
 
 var _ builder.APIGroupValidation = (*DatasourceStacksValidator)(nil)
 
-type DatasourceStacksValidator struct{}
+type DatasourceStacksValidator struct {
+	restConfigProvider apiserver.RestConfigProvider
+}
 
-func GetDatasourceStacksValidator() builder.APIGroupValidation {
-	return &DatasourceStacksValidator{}
+func GetDatasourceStacksValidator(restConfigProvider apiserver.RestConfigProvider) builder.APIGroupValidation {
+	return &DatasourceStacksValidator{restConfigProvider: restConfigProvider}
 }
 
 func (v *DatasourceStacksValidator) Validate(ctx context.Context, a admission.Attributes, o admission.ObjectInterfaces) (err error) {
@@ -54,13 +59,54 @@ func (v *DatasourceStacksValidator) Validate(ctx context.Context, a admission.At
 	modes := cast.Spec.Modes
 
 	for _, mode := range modes {
-		for key := range mode.Definition {
+		for key, item := range mode.Definition {
 			// if a key is not in the template, return an error
 			if _, ok := template[key]; !ok {
 				return fmt.Errorf("key '%s' is not in the DataSourceStack template (%s %s)", key, a.GetName(), a.GetKind().GroupVersion().String())
 			}
+
+			exists, err := v.checkDatasourceExists(ctx, template[key].Group, item.DataSourceRef)
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("error fetching: datasource '%s' does not exist (%s %s): %w", item.DataSourceRef, a.GetName(), a.GetKind().GroupVersion().String(), err)
+			}
+			if !exists {
+				return fmt.Errorf("datasource '%s' does not exist (%s %s)", item.DataSourceRef, a.GetName(), a.GetKind().GroupVersion().String())
+			}
+
 		}
 	}
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+func (v *DatasourceStacksValidator) checkDatasourceExists(ctx context.Context, group, name string) (bool, error) {
+	cfg, err := v.restConfigProvider.GetRestConfig(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	client, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(cfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	result := client.RESTClient().Get().
+		Prefix("apis", group, "v0alpha1").
+		Namespace("default").
+		Resource("datasources").
+		Name(name).
+		Do(ctx)
+
+	if err = result.Error(); err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+
+	var statusCode int
+
+	result = result.StatusCode(&statusCode)
+	if statusCode == http.StatusNotFound {
+		return false, nil
+	}
+
+	return true, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/registry/apis/collections/register.go b/pkg/registry/apis/collections/register.go
index bf812c97268..a53481d826c 100644
--- a/pkg/registry/apis/collections/register.go
+++ b/pkg/registry/apis/collections/register.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/infra/db"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/registry/apis/collections/legacy"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/registry/apis/preferences/utils"
+	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/apiserver"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/apiserver/builder"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/apiserver/endpoints/request"
 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/featuremgmt"
@@ -50,6 +51,7 @@ func RegisterAPIService(
 	stars star.Service,
 	users user.Service,
 	apiregistration builder.APIRegistrar,
+	restConfigProvider apiserver.RestConfigProvider,
 ) *APIBuilder {
 	// Requires development settings and clearly experimental
 	//nolint:staticcheck // not yet migrated to OpenFeature
@@ -59,7 +61,7 @@ func RegisterAPIService(
 
 	sql := legacy.NewLegacySQL(legacysql.NewDatabaseProvider(db))
 	builder := &APIBuilder{
-		datasourceStacksValidator: GetDatasourceStacksValidator(),
+		datasourceStacksValidator: GetDatasourceStacksValidator(restConfigProvider),
 		authorizer: &utils.AuthorizeFromName{
 			Resource: map[string][]utils.ResourceOwner{
 				"stars":       {utils.UserResourceOwner},
diff --git a/pkg/server/wire_gen.go b/pkg/server/wire_gen.go
index d57273ccd35..9baae3adde6 100644
--- a/pkg/server/wire_gen.go
+++ b/pkg/server/wire_gen.go
@@ -886,7 +886,7 @@ func Initialize(ctx context.Context, cfg *setting.Cfg, opts Options, apiOpts api
 	}
 	userStorageAPIBuilder := userstorage.RegisterAPIService(featureToggles, apiserverService, registerer)
 	apiBuilder := preferences.RegisterAPIService(cfg, featureToggles, sqlStore, prefService, userService, apiserverService)
-	collectionsAPIBuilder := collections.RegisterAPIService(cfg, featureToggles, sqlStore, starService, userService, apiserverService)
+	collectionsAPIBuilder := collections.RegisterAPIService(cfg, featureToggles, sqlStore, starService, userService, apiserverService, eventualRestConfigProvider)
 	webhookExtraBuilder := webhooks.ProvideWebhooksWithImages(cfg, renderingService, resourceClient, eventualRestConfigProvider, registerer)
 	v3 := extras.ProvideProvisioningExtraAPIs(webhookExtraBuilder)
 	pullRequestWorker := pullrequest.ProvidePullRequestWorker(cfg, renderingService, resourceClient, eventualRestConfigProvider, registerer)
@@ -1540,7 +1540,7 @@ func InitializeForTest(ctx context.Context, t sqlutil.ITestDB, testingT interfac
 	}
 	userStorageAPIBuilder := userstorage.RegisterAPIService(featureToggles, apiserverService, registerer)
 	apiBuilder := preferences.RegisterAPIService(cfg, featureToggles, sqlStore, prefService, userService, apiserverService)
-	collectionsAPIBuilder := collections.RegisterAPIService(cfg, featureToggles, sqlStore, starService, userService, apiserverService)
+	collectionsAPIBuilder := collections.RegisterAPIService(cfg, featureToggles, sqlStore, starService, userService, apiserverService, eventualRestConfigProvider)
 	webhookExtraBuilder := webhooks.ProvideWebhooksWithImages(cfg, renderingService, resourceClient, eventualRestConfigProvider, registerer)
 	v3 := extras.ProvideProvisioningExtraAPIs(webhookExtraBuilder)
 	pullRequestWorker := pullrequest.ProvidePullRequestWorker(cfg, renderingService, resourceClient, eventualRestConfigProvider, registerer)
diff --git a/pkg/services/datasources/service/client/client.go b/pkg/services/datasources/service/client/client.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9e3d460b6e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/services/datasources/service/client/client.go
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+package client
+
+// import (
+// 	"context"
+// 	"encoding/json"
+
+// 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/apiserver"
+// 	"github.com/grafana/grafana/pkg/services/apiserver/client"
+// 	v1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+// 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1/unstructured"
+// 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime/schema"
+// 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes"
+// )
+
+// // K8sClientFactory creates a K8sClient for the given group
+// type K8sClientFactory func(ctx context.Context, group string, version string) client.K8sHandler
+
+// type K8sHandler struct {
+// 	client.K8sHandler
+// 	restConfigProvider apiserver.RestConfigProvider
+// 	gvr                schema.GroupVersionResource
+// }
+
+// type K8sClient struct {
+// 	client.K8sHandler
+// 	newClientFunc K8sClientFactory
+// }
+
+// func ProvideK8sClient(
+// 	restConfigProvider apiserver.RestConfigProvider,
+// ) K8sHandler {
+// 	return NewK8sClient(restConfigProvider)
+// }
+
+// func NewK8sClient(restConfigProvider apiserver.RestConfigProvider) *K8sClient {
+// 	newClientFunc := newK8sClientFactory(restConfigProvider)
+// 	return &K8sClient{
+// 		K8sHandler: newClientFunc(context.Background(),),
+// 	}
+// }
+
+// func (c K8sHandler) Get(ctx context.Context, name string, orgID int64, options v1.GetOptions, subresource ...string) (*unstructured.Unstructured, error) {
+// 	cfg, err := c.restConfigProvider.GetRestConfig(ctx)
+// 	if err != nil {
+// 		return nil, err
+// 	}
+// 	client, err := kubernetes.NewForConfig(cfg)
+// 	if err != nil {
+// 		return nil, err
+// 	}
+
+// 	result := client.RESTClient().Get().
+// 		Prefix("apis", c.gvr.Group, c.gvr.Version).
+// 		Namespace(string(orgID)).
+// 		Resource(c.gvr.Resource).
+// 		Name(name).
+// 		Do(ctx)
+
+// 	if err = result.Error(); err != nil {
+// 		return nil, err
+// 	}
+
+// 	body, err := result.Raw()
+// 	if err != nil {
+// 		return nil, err
+// 	}
+
+// 	value := &unstructured.Unstructured{}
+// 	if err = json.Unmarshal(body, value); err != nil {
+// 		return nil, err
+// 	}
+
+// 	return value, nil
+// }
+
+// func newK8sClientFactory(restConfigProvider apiserver.RestConfigProvider) K8sClientFactory {
+// 	return func(ctx context.Context, group string, version string) client.K8sHandler {
+// 		gvr := schema.GroupVersionResource{
+// 			Group:    group,
+// 			Version:  version,
+// 			Resource: "datasources",
+// 		}
+
+// 		return K8sHandler{
+// 			restConfigProvider: restConfigProvider,
+// 			gvr:                gvr,
+// 		}
+
+// 	}
+// }