diff --git a/controllers/sandbox_controller.go b/controllers/sandbox_controller.go
index f6d43d457..7f5626845 100644
--- a/controllers/sandbox_controller.go
+++ b/controllers/sandbox_controller.go
@@ -451,6 +451,9 @@ func (r *SandboxReconciler) reconcilePod(ctx context.Context, sandbox *sandboxv1
 		if pod.Labels == nil {
 			pod.Labels = make(map[string]string)
 		}
+		if pod.Annotations == nil {
+			pod.Annotations = make(map[string]string)
+		}
 		changed := false
 		if pod.Labels[sandboxLabel] != nameHash {
 			pod.Labels[sandboxLabel] = nameHash
@@ -463,6 +466,12 @@ func (r *SandboxReconciler) reconcilePod(ctx context.Context, sandbox *sandboxv1
 				changed = true
 			}
 		}
+		for k, v := range sandbox.Spec.PodTemplate.ObjectMeta.Annotations {
+			if pod.Annotations[k] != v {
+				pod.Annotations[k] = v
+				changed = true
+			}
+		}
 
 		// Set controller reference if the pod is not controlled by anything.
 		if controllerRef := metav1.GetControllerOf(pod); controllerRef == nil {
diff --git a/controllers/sandbox_controller_test.go b/controllers/sandbox_controller_test.go
index a9209707a..eac8780ae 100644
--- a/controllers/sandbox_controller_test.go
+++ b/controllers/sandbox_controller_test.go
@@ -620,6 +620,9 @@ func TestReconcilePod(t *testing.T) {
 						"agents.x-k8s.io/sandbox-name-hash": nameHash,
 						"custom-label":                      "label-val",
 					},
+					Annotations: map[string]string{
+						"custom-annotation": "anno-val",
+					},
 					OwnerReferences: []metav1.OwnerReference{sandboxControllerRef(sandboxName)},
 				},
 				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
@@ -699,7 +702,7 @@ func TestReconcilePod(t *testing.T) {
 			wantPod: nil,
 		},
 		{
-			name: "adopts existing pod via annotation - pod gets label and owner reference",
+			name: "adopts existing pod via annotation - pod gets metadata and owner reference",
 			initialObjs: []runtime.Object{
 				&corev1.Pod{
 					ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
@@ -727,6 +730,11 @@ func TestReconcilePod(t *testing.T) {
 				Spec: sandboxv1alpha1.SandboxSpec{
 					Replicas: ptr.To(int32(1)),
 					PodTemplate: sandboxv1alpha1.PodTemplate{
+						ObjectMeta: sandboxv1alpha1.PodMetadata{
+							Annotations: map[string]string{
+								"example.com/workspace": "true",
+							},
+						},
 						Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
 							Containers: []corev1.Container{
 								{
@@ -745,6 +753,9 @@ func TestReconcilePod(t *testing.T) {
 					Labels: map[string]string{
 						sandboxLabel: nameHash,
 					},
+					Annotations: map[string]string{
+						"example.com/workspace": "true",
+					},
 					OwnerReferences: []metav1.OwnerReference{sandboxControllerRef(sandboxName)},
 				},
 				Spec: corev1.PodSpec{
@@ -797,6 +808,9 @@ func TestReconcilePod(t *testing.T) {
 						"agents.x-k8s.io/sandbox-name-hash": nameHash,
 						"custom-label":                      "label-val",
 					},
+					Annotations: map[string]string{
+						"custom-annotation": "anno-val",
+					},
 					// Should still have the original controller reference
 					OwnerReferences: []metav1.OwnerReference{
 						{