diff --git a/kyaml/go.mod b/kyaml/go.mod
index 3acc35ab7..91b3470aa 100644
--- a/kyaml/go.mod
+++ b/kyaml/go.mod
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ go 1.14
 require (
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1
 	github.com/go-errors/errors v1.0.1
+	github.com/go-openapi/errors v0.19.2
 	github.com/go-openapi/spec v0.19.5
 	github.com/go-openapi/strfmt v0.19.5
 	github.com/go-openapi/validate v0.19.8
diff --git a/kyaml/setters2/set.go b/kyaml/setters2/set.go
index ea624bfae..c95b0f0bc 100644
--- a/kyaml/setters2/set.go
+++ b/kyaml/setters2/set.go
@@ -248,8 +248,23 @@ func validateAgainstSchema(ext *CliExtension, sch *spec.Schema) error {
 
 	var inputYAML string
 	if len(ext.Setter.ListValues) > 0 {
-		tmpl, err := template.New("validator").
-			Parse(`{{.key}}:{{block "list" .values}}{{"\n"}}{{range .}}{{println "-" .}}{{end}}{{end}}`)
+		// tmplText contains the template we will use to produce a yaml
+		// document that we can use for validation.
+		var tmplText string
+		if sch.Items != nil && sch.Items.Schema != nil &&
+			sch.Items.Schema.Type.Contains("string") {
+			// If string is one of the legal types for the value, we
+			// output it with quotes in the yaml document to make sure it
+			// is later parsed as a string.
+			tmplText = `{{.key}}:{{block "list" .values}}{{"\n"}}{{range .}}{{printf "- %q\n" .}}{{end}}{{end}}`
+		} else {
+			// If string is not specifically set as the type, we just
+			// let the yaml unmarshaller detect the correct type. Thus, we
+			// do not add quotes around the value.
+			tmplText = `{{.key}}:{{block "list" .values}}{{"\n"}}{{range .}}{{println "-" .}}{{end}}{{end}}`
+		}
+
+		tmpl, err := template.New("validator").Parse(tmplText)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -263,7 +278,15 @@ func validateAgainstSchema(ext *CliExtension, sch *spec.Schema) error {
 		}
 		inputYAML = builder.String()
 	} else {
-		inputYAML = fmt.Sprintf("%s: %s", ext.Setter.Name, ext.Setter.Value)
+		var format string
+		// Only add quotes around the value is string is one of the
+		// types in the schema.
+		if sch.Type.Contains("string") {
+			format = "%s: \"%s\""
+		} else {
+			format = "%s: %s"
+		}
+		inputYAML = fmt.Sprintf(format, ext.Setter.Name, ext.Setter.Value)
 	}
 
 	input := map[string]interface{}{}
diff --git a/kyaml/setters2/set_test.go b/kyaml/setters2/set_test.go
index 8b75aefc0..189b76750 100644
--- a/kyaml/setters2/set_test.go
+++ b/kyaml/setters2/set_test.go
@@ -1296,6 +1296,8 @@ openAPI:
 }
 
 func TestValidateAgainstSchema(t *testing.T) {
+	maxLength := int64(3)
+
 	testCases := []struct {
 		name             string
 		setter           *setter
@@ -1303,6 +1305,15 @@ func TestValidateAgainstSchema(t *testing.T) {
 		shouldValidate   bool
 		expectedErrorMsg string
 	}{
+		{
+			name: "no schema",
+			setter: &setter{
+				Name:  "foo",
+				Value: "bar",
+			},
+			schema:         spec.SchemaProps{},
+			shouldValidate: true,
+		},
 		{
 			name: "simple string value",
 			setter: &setter{
@@ -1348,7 +1359,7 @@ func TestValidateAgainstSchema(t *testing.T) {
 			shouldValidate: true,
 		},
 		{
-			name: "number value should not be accepted as string",
+			name: "number value should be accepted as integer",
 			setter: &setter{
 				Name:  "foo",
 				Value: "45",
@@ -1358,6 +1369,19 @@ func TestValidateAgainstSchema(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 			shouldValidate: true,
 		},
+		{
+			name: "string type allows string-specific validations",
+			setter: &setter{
+				Name:  "foo",
+				Value: "1234",
+			},
+			schema: spec.SchemaProps{
+				Type:      []string{"string"},
+				MaxLength: &maxLength,
+			},
+			shouldValidate:   false,
+			expectedErrorMsg: "foo in body should be at most 3 chars long",
+		},
 		{
 			name: "list with int values",
 			setter: &setter{
@@ -1395,6 +1419,44 @@ func TestValidateAgainstSchema(t *testing.T) {
 			shouldValidate:   false,
 			expectedErrorMsg: "foo in body must be of type integer",
 		},
+		{
+			name: "all values should satisfy type string",
+			setter: &setter{
+				Name:  "foo",
+				Value: "1234",
+			},
+			schema: spec.SchemaProps{
+				Type: []string{"string"},
+			},
+			shouldValidate: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "all values should satisfy type string even in arrays",
+			setter: &setter{
+				Name:       "foo",
+				ListValues: []string{"123", "456"},
+			},
+			schema: spec.SchemaProps{
+				Type: []string{"array"},
+				Items: &spec.SchemaOrArray{
+					Schema: &spec.Schema{
+						SchemaProps: spec.SchemaProps{
+							Type: []string{"string"},
+						},
+					},
+				},
+			},
+			shouldValidate: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name: "List values without any schema",
+			setter: &setter{
+				Name:       "foo",
+				ListValues: []string{"123", "true", "abc"},
+			},
+			schema:         spec.SchemaProps{},
+			shouldValidate: true,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for i := range testCases {