diff --git a/cmd/oci-runtime-tool/main.go b/cmd/oci-runtime-tool/main.go
index 2268a0ac5..c4f4f589b 100644
--- a/cmd/oci-runtime-tool/main.go
+++ b/cmd/oci-runtime-tool/main.go
@@ -22,6 +22,11 @@ func main() {
 	}
 	app.Usage = "OCI (Open Container Initiative) runtime tools"
 	app.Flags = []cli.Flag{
+		cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "compliance-level",
+			Value: "must",
+			Usage: "compliance level (may, should, or must).",
+		},
 		cli.BoolFlag{
 			Name:  "host-specific",
 			Usage: "generate host-specific configs or do host-specific validations",
diff --git a/cmd/oci-runtime-tool/validate.go b/cmd/oci-runtime-tool/validate.go
index 58cdeb921..f506aa28b 100644
--- a/cmd/oci-runtime-tool/validate.go
+++ b/cmd/oci-runtime-tool/validate.go
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@ package main
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
+	rfc2119 "github.com/opencontainers/runtime-tools/error"
+	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-tools/specerror"
 	"github.com/opencontainers/runtime-tools/validate"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli"
 )
 
@@ -19,6 +22,12 @@ var bundleValidateCommand = cli.Command{
 	Before: before,
 	Action: func(context *cli.Context) error {
 		hostSpecific := context.GlobalBool("host-specific")
+		complianceLevelString := context.GlobalString("compliance-level")
+		complianceLevel, err := rfc2119.ParseLevel(complianceLevelString)
+		if err != nil {
+			complianceLevel = rfc2119.Must
+			logrus.Warningf("%s, using 'MUST' by default.", err.Error())
+		}
 		inputPath := context.String("path")
 		platform := context.String("platform")
 		v, err := validate.NewValidatorFromPath(inputPath, hostSpecific, platform)
@@ -27,8 +36,14 @@ var bundleValidateCommand = cli.Command{
 		}
 
 		if err := v.CheckAll(); err != nil {
-			return err
-
+			levelErrors, err := specerror.SplitLevel(err, complianceLevel)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			for _, e := range levelErrors.Warnings {
+				logrus.Warn(e)
+			}
+			return levelErrors.Error
 		}
 		fmt.Println("Bundle validation succeeded.")
 		return nil
diff --git a/man/oci-runtime-tool.1.md b/man/oci-runtime-tool.1.md
index 880b587ff..5a66fe33b 100644
--- a/man/oci-runtime-tool.1.md
+++ b/man/oci-runtime-tool.1.md
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ oci-runtime-tool is a collection of tools for working with the [OCI runtime spec
   Log level (panic, fatal, error, warn, info, or debug) (default: "error").
 
 **--compliance-level**=LEVEL
-  Compliance level (may, should or must) (default: "must").
+  Compliance level (`may`, `should`, or `must`) (default: `must`).
+  For example, a SHOULD-level violation is fatal if `--compliance-level` is `may` or `should` but non-fatal if `--compliance-level` is `must`.
 
 **-v**, **--version**
   Print version information.
diff --git a/specerror/error.go b/specerror/error.go
index c75bb6b14..069cbc1e6 100644
--- a/specerror/error.go
+++ b/specerror/error.go
@@ -69,6 +69,16 @@ type Error struct {
 	Code Code
 }
 
+// LevelErrors represents Errors filtered into fatal and warnings.
+type LevelErrors struct {
+	// Warnings holds Errors that were below a compliance-level threshold.
+	Warnings []*Error
+
+	// Error holds errors that were at or above a compliance-level
+	// threshold, as well as errors that are not Errors.
+	Error *multierror.Error
+}
+
 var (
 	containerFormatRef = func(version string) (reference string, err error) {
 		return fmt.Sprintf(referenceTemplate, version, "bundle.md#container-format"), nil
@@ -168,3 +178,23 @@ func FindError(err error, code Code) Code {
 	}
 	return NonRFCError
 }
+
+// SplitLevel removes RFC 2119 errors with a level less than 'level'
+// from the source error.  If the source error is not a multierror, it
+// is returned unchanged.
+func SplitLevel(errIn error, level rfc2119.Level) (levelErrors LevelErrors, errOut error) {
+	merr, ok := errIn.(*multierror.Error)
+	if !ok {
+		return levelErrors, errIn
+	}
+	for _, err := range merr.Errors {
+		e, ok := err.(*Error)
+		if ok && e.Err.Level < level {
+			fmt.Println(e)
+			levelErrors.Warnings = append(levelErrors.Warnings, e)
+			continue
+		}
+		levelErrors.Error = multierror.Append(levelErrors.Error, err)
+	}
+	return levelErrors, nil
+}