diff --git a/core/java/android/provider/Settings.java b/core/java/android/provider/Settings.java
index 227c9d4269152..85feac878c676 100644
--- a/core/java/android/provider/Settings.java
+++ b/core/java/android/provider/Settings.java
@@ -8654,9 +8654,10 @@ public final class Settings {
                 "location_permissions_upgrade_to_q_mode";
 
         /**
-         * Comma separated list of enabled overlay packages for all android.theme.customization.*
-         * categories. If there is no corresponding package included for a category, then all
-         * overlay packages in that category must be disabled.
+         * Map of android.theme.customization.* categories to the enabled overlay package for that
+         * category, formatted as a serialized {@link org.json.JSONObject}. If there is no
+         * corresponding package included for a category, then all overlay packages in that
+         * category must be disabled.
          * @hide
          */
         @SystemApi
@@ -8664,7 +8665,7 @@ public final class Settings {
                 "theme_customization_overlay_packages";
 
         private static final Validator THEME_CUSTOMIZATION_OVERLAY_PACKAGES_VALIDATOR =
-                new SettingsValidators.PackageNameListValidator(",");
+                SettingsValidators.JSON_OBJECT_VALIDATOR;
 
         /**
          * Controls whether aware is enabled.
diff --git a/core/java/android/provider/SettingsValidators.java b/core/java/android/provider/SettingsValidators.java
index 25e77867b757f..405121378d1f1 100644
--- a/core/java/android/provider/SettingsValidators.java
+++ b/core/java/android/provider/SettingsValidators.java
@@ -19,9 +19,13 @@ package android.provider;
 import android.annotation.Nullable;
 import android.content.ComponentName;
 import android.net.Uri;
+import android.text.TextUtils;
 
 import com.android.internal.util.ArrayUtils;
 
+import org.json.JSONException;
+import org.json.JSONObject;
+
 import java.util.Locale;
 
 /**
@@ -162,6 +166,19 @@ public class SettingsValidators {
         }
     };
 
+    /** {@link Validator} that checks whether a value is a valid {@link JSONObject}. */
+    public static final Validator JSON_OBJECT_VALIDATOR = (value) -> {
+        if (TextUtils.isEmpty(value)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        try {
+            new JSONObject(value);
+            return true;
+        } catch (JSONException e) {
+            return false;
+        }
+    };
+
     public interface Validator {
         /**
          * Returns whether the input value is valid. Subclasses should handle the case where the
diff --git a/core/tests/coretests/src/android/provider/SettingsValidatorsTest.java b/core/tests/coretests/src/android/provider/SettingsValidatorsTest.java
index 08f9de602684a..8081e9e6c67bd 100644
--- a/core/tests/coretests/src/android/provider/SettingsValidatorsTest.java
+++ b/core/tests/coretests/src/android/provider/SettingsValidatorsTest.java
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 package android.provider;
 
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
@@ -26,6 +28,8 @@ import android.provider.SettingsValidators.Validator;
 import androidx.test.filters.SmallTest;
 import androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnit4;
 
+import org.json.JSONException;
+import org.json.JSONObject;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
 
@@ -217,6 +221,31 @@ public class SettingsValidatorsTest {
         assertFalse(Settings.System.DATE_FORMAT_VALIDATOR.validate(null));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testJSONObjectValidator() throws JSONException {
+        Validator v = SettingsValidators.JSON_OBJECT_VALIDATOR;
+
+        assertThat(v.validate(new JSONObject().toString())).isTrue();
+        assertThat(v.validate("{}")).isTrue();
+        assertThat(v.validate(new JSONObject().put("foo", "bar").toString()))
+                .isTrue();
+        assertThat(v.validate("{\"foo\": \"bar\"}")).isTrue();
+
+        assertThat(v.validate("random string")).isFalse();
+        assertThat(v.validate("random: string")).isFalse();
+        assertThat(v.validate("{random: }")).isFalse();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testJSONObjectValidator_onNullValue_returnsFalse() {
+        assertThat(SettingsValidators.JSON_OBJECT_VALIDATOR.validate(null)).isFalse();
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testJSONObjectValidator_onEmptyString_returnsFalse() {
+        assertThat(SettingsValidators.JSON_OBJECT_VALIDATOR.validate("")).isFalse();
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void ensureAllBackedUpSystemSettingsHaveValidators() {
         String offenders = getOffenders(concat(Settings.System.SETTINGS_TO_BACKUP,