diff --git a/src/zarr/core/group.py b/src/zarr/core/group.py
index de8c8e9a68..9b3da67261 100644
--- a/src/zarr/core/group.py
+++ b/src/zarr/core/group.py
@@ -48,6 +48,11 @@
 )
 from zarr.core.config import config
 from zarr.core.metadata import ArrayV2Metadata, ArrayV3Metadata
+from zarr.core.metadata.v3 import (
+    AllowedExtraField,
+    check_allowed_extra_field,
+    parse_extra_fields,
+)
 from zarr.core.metadata.io import save_metadata
 from zarr.core.sync import SyncMixin, sync
 from zarr.errors import (
@@ -354,6 +359,7 @@ class GroupMetadata(Metadata):
     zarr_format: ZarrFormat = 3
     consolidated_metadata: ConsolidatedMetadata | None = None
     node_type: Literal["group"] = field(default="group", init=False)
+    extra_fields: dict[str, AllowedExtraField] = field(default_factory=dict)
 
     def to_buffer_dict(self, prototype: BufferPrototype) -> dict[str, Buffer]:
         json_indent = config.get("json_indent")
@@ -408,13 +414,16 @@ def __init__(
         attributes: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
         zarr_format: ZarrFormat = 3,
         consolidated_metadata: ConsolidatedMetadata | None = None,
+        extra_fields: Mapping[str, AllowedExtraField] | None = None,
     ) -> None:
         attributes_parsed = parse_attributes(attributes)
         zarr_format_parsed = parse_zarr_format(zarr_format)
+        extra_fields_parsed = parse_extra_fields(extra_fields)
 
         object.__setattr__(self, "attributes", attributes_parsed)
         object.__setattr__(self, "zarr_format", zarr_format_parsed)
         object.__setattr__(self, "consolidated_metadata", consolidated_metadata)
+        object.__setattr__(self, "extra_fields", extra_fields_parsed)
 
     @classmethod
     def from_dict(cls, data: dict[str, Any]) -> GroupMetadata:
@@ -431,11 +440,34 @@ def from_dict(cls, data: dict[str, Any]) -> GroupMetadata:
             # extra key in the metadata.
             expected = {x.name for x in fields(cls)}
             data = {k: v for k, v in data.items() if k in expected}
+        else:
+            # zarr v3: extra fields must have must_understand=False
+            expected = {x.name for x in fields(cls)}
+            extra_fields: dict[str, AllowedExtraField] = {}
+            invalid_extra_fields: dict[str, Any] = {}
+            for key in list(data.keys()):
+                if key not in expected:
+                    val = data.pop(key)
+                    if check_allowed_extra_field(val):
+                        extra_fields[key] = val
+                    else:
+                        invalid_extra_fields[key] = val
+            if len(invalid_extra_fields) > 0:
+                msg = (
+                    "Got a Zarr V3 group metadata document with the following disallowed extra fields:"
+                    f"{sorted(invalid_extra_fields.keys())}."
+                    'Extra fields are not allowed unless they are a dict with a "must_understand" key'
+                    "which is assigned the value `False`."
+                )
+                raise MetadataValidationError(msg)
+            data["extra_fields"] = extra_fields
 
         return cls(**data)
 
     def to_dict(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
         result = asdict(replace(self, consolidated_metadata=None))
+        extra_fields = result.pop("extra_fields", {})
+        result = result | extra_fields
         if self.consolidated_metadata is not None:
             result["consolidated_metadata"] = self.consolidated_metadata.to_dict()
         else:
diff --git a/tests/test_group.py b/tests/test_group.py
index e05df0dfcb..9def662447 100644
--- a/tests/test_group.py
+++ b/tests/test_group.py
@@ -1601,6 +1601,51 @@ def test_from_dict_extra_fields(self):
         expected = GroupMetadata(attributes={"key": "value"}, zarr_format=2)
         assert result == expected
 
+    def test_from_dict_extra_fields_v3_allowed(self):
+        data = {
+            "attributes": {"key": "value"},
+            "zarr_format": 3,
+            "node_type": "group",
+            "my_ext": {"must_understand": False, "data": [1, 2, 3]},
+        }
+        result = GroupMetadata.from_dict(data)
+        expected = GroupMetadata(
+            attributes={"key": "value"},
+            zarr_format=3,
+            extra_fields={"my_ext": {"must_understand": False, "data": [1, 2, 3]}},
+        )
+        assert result == expected
+
+    def test_from_dict_extra_fields_v3_must_understand_true(self):
+        data = {
+            "attributes": {"key": "value"},
+            "zarr_format": 3,
+            "node_type": "group",
+            "my_ext": {"must_understand": True},
+        }
+        with pytest.raises(MetadataValidationError, match="disallowed extra fields"):
+            GroupMetadata.from_dict(data)
+
+    def test_from_dict_extra_fields_v3_non_dict(self):
+        data = {
+            "attributes": {"key": "value"},
+            "zarr_format": 3,
+            "node_type": "group",
+            "my_ext": 42,
+        }
+        with pytest.raises(MetadataValidationError, match="disallowed extra fields"):
+            GroupMetadata.from_dict(data)
+
+    def test_to_dict_extra_fields_v3(self):
+        metadata = GroupMetadata(
+            attributes={"key": "value"},
+            zarr_format=3,
+            extra_fields={"my_ext": {"must_understand": False, "data": [1, 2, 3]}},
+        )
+        result = metadata.to_dict()
+        assert result["my_ext"] == {"must_understand": False, "data": [1, 2, 3]}
+        assert "extra_fields" not in result
+
 
 class TestInfo:
     def test_info(self):