diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala
index 4fcc3af1d5e2..07d764966f9e 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/SparkSubmit.scala
@@ -1035,6 +1035,10 @@ private[spark] class SparkSubmit extends Logging {
             exitCode = e.exitCode
           case _ =>
         }
+        // Store the diagnostics externally if enabled, but still throw to complete the application.
+        if (sparkConf.getBoolean("spark.kubernetes.driver.annotateExitException", false)) {
+          annotateExitException(args, sparkConf, cause)
+        }
         throw cause
     } finally {
       if (args.master.startsWith("k8s") && !isShell(args.primaryResource) &&
@@ -1058,6 +1062,24 @@ private[spark] class SparkSubmit extends Logging {
   /** Throw a SparkException with the given error message. */
   private def error(msg: String): Unit = throw new SparkException(msg)
 
+  /**
+   * Store the exit exception using the SparkDiagnosticsSetter.
+   */
+  private def annotateExitException(
+      args: SparkSubmitArguments,
+      sparkConf: SparkConf,
+      throwable: Throwable): Unit = {
+    // Swallow exceptions when storing diagnostics, this shouldn't fail the application.
+    try {
+      if (!isShell(args.primaryResource) && !isSqlShell(args.mainClass)
+          && !isThriftServer(args.mainClass) && !isConnectServer(args.mainClass)) {
+        SparkSubmitUtils.getSparkDiagnosticsSetters(args.master)
+          .foreach(_.setDiagnostics(throwable, sparkConf))
+      }
+    } catch {
+      case e: Throwable => logDebug(s"Failed to set diagnostics: $e")
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 
@@ -1233,6 +1255,23 @@ private[spark] object SparkSubmitUtils {
       case _ => throw new SparkException(s"Spark config without '=': $pair")
     }
   }
+
+  private[deploy] def getSparkDiagnosticsSetters(
+      master: String): Option[SparkDiagnosticsSetter] = {
+    val loader = Utils.getContextOrSparkClassLoader
+    val serviceLoaders =
+      ServiceLoader.load(classOf[SparkDiagnosticsSetter], loader)
+        .asScala
+        .filter(_.supports(master))
+
+    serviceLoaders.size match {
+      case x if x > 1 =>
+        throw new SparkException(s"Multiple($x) external SparkDiagnosticsSetter registered.")
+      case 1 =>
+        Some(serviceLoaders.headOption.get)
+      case _ => None
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1255,3 +1294,20 @@ private[spark] trait SparkSubmitOperation {
 
   def supports(master: String): Boolean
 }
+
+/**
+ * Provides a hook to set the application failure details in some external system.
+ */
+private[spark] trait SparkDiagnosticsSetter {
+
+  /**
+   * Set the failure details.
+   */
+  def setDiagnostics(throwable: Throwable, conf: SparkConf): Unit
+
+  /**
+   * Whether this implementation of the SparkDiagnosticsSetter supports setting the exit
+   * exception for this application.
+   */
+  def supports(clusterManagerUrl: String): Boolean
+}
diff --git a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.apache.spark.deploy.SparkDiagnosticsSetter b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.apache.spark.deploy.SparkDiagnosticsSetter
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ccd0fc0b64b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/resources/META-INF/services/org.apache.spark.deploy.SparkDiagnosticsSetter
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#
+# Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+# contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+# this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+# The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+# (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+# the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+#
+
+org.apache.spark.deploy.k8s.SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetter
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Config.scala b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Config.scala
index 8be78240e34f..3ec4bbfd6763 100644
--- a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Config.scala
+++ b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Config.scala
@@ -784,6 +784,14 @@ private[spark] object Config extends Logging {
       .checkValue(value => value > 0, "Gracefully shutdown period must be a positive time value")
       .createWithDefaultString("20s")
 
+  val KUBERNETES_ANNOTATE_EXIT_EXCEPTION =
+    ConfigBuilder("spark.kubernetes.driver.annotateExitException")
+      .doc("If set to true, Spark will store the exit exception failed applications in" +
+        s" the Kubernetes API server using the $EXIT_EXCEPTION_ANNOTATION annotation.")
+      .version("4.1.0")
+      .booleanConf
+      .createWithDefault(false)
+
   val KUBERNETES_DRIVER_LABEL_PREFIX = "spark.kubernetes.driver.label."
   val KUBERNETES_DRIVER_ANNOTATION_PREFIX = "spark.kubernetes.driver.annotation."
   val KUBERNETES_DRIVER_SERVICE_LABEL_PREFIX = "spark.kubernetes.driver.service.label."
diff --git a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Constants.scala b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Constants.scala
index cd2a90898efe..218ddbac70dd 100644
--- a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Constants.scala
+++ b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/Constants.scala
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ object Constants {
   val DEFAULT_EXECUTOR_CONTAINER_NAME = "spark-kubernetes-executor"
   val NON_JVM_MEMORY_OVERHEAD_FACTOR = 0.4d
   val CONNECT_GRPC_BINDING_PORT = "spark.connect.grpc.binding.port"
+  val EXIT_EXCEPTION_ANNOTATION = "spark.exit-exception"
 
   // Hadoop Configuration
   val HADOOP_CONF_VOLUME = "hadoop-properties"
diff --git a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetter.scala b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetter.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9a1e79594e48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetter.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.spark.deploy.k8s
+
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.{Pod, PodBuilder}
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClient
+import org.apache.hadoop.util.StringUtils
+
+import org.apache.spark.SparkConf
+import org.apache.spark.deploy.SparkDiagnosticsSetter
+import org.apache.spark.deploy.k8s.Config._
+import org.apache.spark.deploy.k8s.Constants.EXIT_EXCEPTION_ANNOTATION
+import org.apache.spark.deploy.k8s.SparkKubernetesClientFactory.ClientType
+import org.apache.spark.internal.Logging
+import org.apache.spark.util.{SparkStringUtils, Utils}
+
+/**
+ * We use this trait and its implementation to allow for mocking the static
+ * client creation in tests.
+ */
+private[spark] trait KubernetesClientProvider {
+  def create(conf: SparkConf): KubernetesClient
+}
+
+private[spark] class DefaultKubernetesClientProvider extends KubernetesClientProvider {
+  override def create(conf: SparkConf): KubernetesClient = {
+    SparkKubernetesClientFactory.createKubernetesClient(
+      conf.get(KUBERNETES_DRIVER_MASTER_URL),
+      Option(conf.get(KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE)),
+      KUBERNETES_AUTH_DRIVER_MOUNTED_CONF_PREFIX,
+      ClientType.Driver,
+      conf,
+      None)
+  }
+}
+
+private[spark] class SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetter(clientProvider: KubernetesClientProvider)
+  extends SparkDiagnosticsSetter with Logging {
+
+  private val KUBERNETES_EXIT_EXCEPTION_MESSAGE_LIMIT_BYTES = 64 * 1024 // 64 KiB
+
+  def this() = {
+    this(new DefaultKubernetesClientProvider)
+  }
+
+  override def setDiagnostics(throwable: Throwable, conf: SparkConf): Unit = {
+    val diagnostics = SparkStringUtils.abbreviate(StringUtils.stringifyException(throwable),
+      KUBERNETES_EXIT_EXCEPTION_MESSAGE_LIMIT_BYTES)
+    Utils.tryWithResource(clientProvider.create(conf)) { client =>
+      conf.get(KUBERNETES_DRIVER_POD_NAME).foreach { podName =>
+        client.pods()
+          .inNamespace(conf.get(KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE))
+          .withName(podName)
+          .edit((p: Pod) => new PodBuilder(p)
+            .editOrNewMetadata()
+            .addToAnnotations(EXIT_EXCEPTION_ANNOTATION, diagnostics)
+            .endMetadata()
+            .build());
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  override def supports(clusterManagerUrl: String): Boolean = {
+    clusterManagerUrl.startsWith("k8s://")
+  }
+}
diff --git a/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetterSuite.scala b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetterSuite.scala
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..65c150b2a035
--- /dev/null
+++ b/resource-managers/kubernetes/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/deploy/k8s/SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetterSuite.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.spark.deploy.k8s
+
+import java.util.function.UnaryOperator
+
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.api.model.Pod
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.KubernetesClient
+import io.fabric8.kubernetes.client.dsl.PodResource
+import org.apache.hadoop.util.StringUtils
+import org.mockito.{ArgumentCaptor, Mock, MockitoAnnotations}
+import org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any
+import org.mockito.Mockito._
+import org.scalatest.BeforeAndAfterEach
+import org.scalatestplus.mockito.MockitoSugar
+
+import org.apache.spark.{SparkConf, SparkFunSuite}
+import org.apache.spark.deploy.k8s.Config._
+import org.apache.spark.deploy.k8s.Constants.EXIT_EXCEPTION_ANNOTATION
+import org.apache.spark.deploy.k8s.Fabric8Aliases.PODS
+
+class SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetterSuite extends SparkFunSuite
+  with MockitoSugar with BeforeAndAfterEach {
+
+  @Mock
+  private var client: KubernetesClient = _
+  @Mock
+  private var clientProvider: KubernetesClientProvider = _
+  @Mock
+  private var podOperations: PODS = _
+  @Mock
+  private var driverPodOperations: PodResource = _
+
+  private val driverPodName: String = "driver-pod"
+  private val k8sClusterManagerUrl: String = "k8s://dummy"
+  private val namespace: String = "default"
+
+  private var setter: SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetter = _
+
+  override def beforeEach(): Unit = {
+    MockitoAnnotations.openMocks(this)
+    when(client.pods()).thenReturn(podOperations)
+    when(podOperations.inNamespace(namespace)).thenReturn(podOperations)
+    when(podOperations.withName(driverPodName)).thenReturn(driverPodOperations)
+    when(clientProvider.create(any(classOf[SparkConf]))).thenReturn(client)
+    setter = new SparkKubernetesDiagnosticsSetter(clientProvider)
+  }
+
+  test("supports() should return true only for k8s:// URLs") {
+    assert(setter.supports(k8sClusterManagerUrl))
+    assert(!setter.supports("yarn"))
+    assert(!setter.supports("spark://localhost"))
+  }
+
+  test("setDiagnostics should patch pod with diagnostics annotation") {
+    val diagnostics = new Throwable("Fake diagnostics stack trace")
+    val conf = new SparkConf()
+      .set(KUBERNETES_DRIVER_MASTER_URL, k8sClusterManagerUrl)
+      .set(KUBERNETES_NAMESPACE, namespace)
+      .set(KUBERNETES_DRIVER_POD_NAME, driverPodName)
+
+    setter.setDiagnostics(diagnostics, conf)
+
+    val captor: ArgumentCaptor[UnaryOperator[Pod]] =
+      ArgumentCaptor.forClass(classOf[UnaryOperator[Pod]])
+    verify(driverPodOperations).edit(captor.capture())
+
+    val fn = captor.getValue
+    val initialPod = SparkPod.initialPod().pod
+    val editedPod = fn.apply(initialPod)
+
+    assert(editedPod.getMetadata.getAnnotations.get(EXIT_EXCEPTION_ANNOTATION)
+      == StringUtils.stringifyException(diagnostics))
+  }
+}