diff --git a/sklearn/cluster/_spectral.py b/sklearn/cluster/_spectral.py
index c77e4494fcc26..8fdd47300b2d9 100644
--- a/sklearn/cluster/_spectral.py
+++ b/sklearn/cluster/_spectral.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 from scipy.sparse import csc_matrix
 
 from ..base import BaseEstimator, ClusterMixin
-from ..utils._param_validation import Interval, StrOptions
+from ..utils._param_validation import Interval, StrOptions, validate_params
 from ..utils import check_random_state, as_float_array
 from ..metrics.pairwise import pairwise_kernels, KERNEL_PARAMS
 from ..neighbors import kneighbors_graph, NearestNeighbors
@@ -190,6 +190,7 @@ def discretize(
     return labels
 
 
+@validate_params({"affinity": ["array-like", "sparse matrix"]})
 def spectral_clustering(
     affinity,
     *,
diff --git a/sklearn/tests/test_public_functions.py b/sklearn/tests/test_public_functions.py
index 4014b03607ee3..df2bd6346c9bc 100644
--- a/sklearn/tests/test_public_functions.py
+++ b/sklearn/tests/test_public_functions.py
@@ -151,6 +151,7 @@ def test_function_param_validation(func_module):
 
 PARAM_VALIDATION_CLASS_WRAPPER_LIST = [
     ("sklearn.cluster.affinity_propagation", "sklearn.cluster.AffinityPropagation"),
+    ("sklearn.cluster.spectral_clustering", "sklearn.cluster.SpectralClustering"),
     ("sklearn.covariance.ledoit_wolf", "sklearn.covariance.LedoitWolf"),
     ("sklearn.covariance.oas", "sklearn.covariance.OAS"),
     ("sklearn.decomposition.dict_learning", "sklearn.decomposition.DictionaryLearning"),