diff --git a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/validation/annotation/ValidationAnnotationUtils.java b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/validation/annotation/ValidationAnnotationUtils.java
index 759df1ddd3c..99404945f76 100644
--- a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/validation/annotation/ValidationAnnotationUtils.java
+++ b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/validation/annotation/ValidationAnnotationUtils.java
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ import org.springframework.core.annotation.AnnotationUtils;
 
 /**
  * Utility class for handling validation annotations.
- * Mainly for internal use within the framework.
+ *
+ * <p>Mainly for internal use within the framework.
  *
  * @author Christoph Dreis
  * @author Juergen Hoeller
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ public abstract class ValidationAnnotationUtils {
 
 
 	/**
-	 * Determine any validation hints by the given annotation.
+	 * Determine any validation hints for the given annotation.
 	 * <p>This implementation checks for Spring's
 	 * {@link org.springframework.validation.annotation.Validated},
 	 * {@code @jakarta.validation.Valid}, and custom annotations whose
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ public abstract class ValidationAnnotationUtils {
 			return EMPTY_OBJECT_ARRAY;
 		}
 		// Meta presence of @Validated ?
-		Validated validatedAnn = AnnotationUtils.getAnnotation(ann, Validated.class);
+		Validated validatedAnn = AnnotationUtils.findAnnotation(annotationType, Validated.class);
 		if (validatedAnn != null) {
 			return validatedAnn.value();
 		}
diff --git a/spring-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/validation/annotation/ValidationAnnotationUtilsTests.java b/spring-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/validation/annotation/ValidationAnnotationUtilsTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a2f8bc30db3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/validation/annotation/ValidationAnnotationUtilsTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,196 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-present the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed 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
+ *
+ *      https://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.springframework.validation.annotation;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+
+import jakarta.validation.Valid;
+import jakarta.validation.groups.Default;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Nested;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.TestInfo;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.BeforeTestExecutionCallback;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.RegisterExtension;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link ValidationAnnotationUtils}.
+ *
+ * @author Sam Brannen
+ * @since 7.0.4
+ */
+class ValidationAnnotationUtilsTests {
+
+	@Nested
+	class DetermineValidationHintsTests {
+
+		Method method;
+
+		@RegisterExtension
+		BeforeTestExecutionCallback extension = context -> this.method = context.getRequiredTestMethod();
+
+		@Test
+		void nonValidatedMethod(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var annotation = this.method.getAnnotation(Test.class);
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationHints(annotation);
+
+			assertThat(hints).isNull();
+		}
+
+		@Test
+		@Validated({ GroupA.class, Default.class })
+		void springValidated(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var annotation = this.method.getAnnotation(Validated.class);
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationHints(annotation);
+
+			assertThat(hints).containsExactly(GroupA.class, Default.class);
+		}
+
+		@Test
+		@MetaValidated
+		void springMetaValidated(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var annotation = this.method.getAnnotation(MetaValidated.class);
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationHints(annotation);
+
+			assertThat(hints).containsExactly(GroupB.class, Default.class);
+		}
+
+		@Test  // gh-36274
+		@MetaMetaValidated
+		void springMetaMetaValidated(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var annotation = this.method.getAnnotation(MetaMetaValidated.class);
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationHints(annotation);
+
+			assertThat(hints).containsExactly(GroupB.class, Default.class);
+		}
+
+		@Test
+		@Valid
+		void jakartaValid(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var annotation = this.method.getAnnotation(Valid.class);
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationHints(annotation);
+
+			assertThat(hints).isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test
+		@ValidPlain
+		void plainCustomValidAnnotation(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var annotation = this.method.getAnnotation(ValidPlain.class);
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationHints(annotation);
+
+			assertThat(hints).isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test
+		@ValidParameterized
+		void parameterizedCustomValidAnnotationWithEmptyGroups(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var annotation = this.method.getAnnotation(ValidParameterized.class);
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationHints(annotation);
+
+			assertThat(hints).isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test
+		@ValidParameterized({ GroupA.class, GroupB.class })
+		void parameterizedCustomValidAnnotationWithNonEmptyGroups(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var annotation = this.method.getAnnotation(ValidParameterized.class);
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationHints(annotation);
+
+			assertThat(hints).containsExactly(GroupA.class, GroupB.class);
+		}
+
+
+		@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+		@interface ValidPlain {
+		}
+
+		@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+		@interface ValidParameterized {
+			Class<?>[] value() default {};
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Nested
+	class DetermineValidationGroupsTests {
+
+		Method method;
+
+		@RegisterExtension
+		BeforeTestExecutionCallback extension = context -> this.method = context.getRequiredTestMethod();
+
+		@Test
+		void nonValidatedMethod(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationGroups(this, this.method);
+
+			assertThat(hints).isEmpty();
+		}
+
+		@Test
+		@Validated({ GroupA.class, Default.class })
+		void springValidated(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationGroups(this, this.method);
+
+			assertThat(hints).containsExactly(GroupA.class, Default.class);
+		}
+
+		@Test
+		@MetaValidated
+		void springMetaValidated(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationGroups(this, this.method);
+
+			assertThat(hints).containsExactly(GroupB.class, Default.class);
+		}
+
+		@Test
+		@MetaMetaValidated
+		void springMetaMetaValidated(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationGroups(this, this.method);
+
+			assertThat(hints).containsExactly(GroupB.class, Default.class);
+		}
+
+		@Test
+		@Valid
+		void jakartaValid(TestInfo testInfo) {
+			var hints = ValidationAnnotationUtils.determineValidationGroups(this, this.method);
+
+			assertThat(hints).isEmpty();
+		}
+	}
+
+
+	interface GroupA {
+	}
+
+	interface GroupB {
+	}
+
+	@Validated({ GroupB.class, Default.class })
+	@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+	@interface MetaValidated {
+	}
+
+	@MetaValidated
+	@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+	@interface MetaMetaValidated {
+	}
+
+}