diff --git a/descriptor.md b/descriptor.md
index fa6874775..3e287604b 100644
--- a/descriptor.md
+++ b/descriptor.md
@@ -41,20 +41,20 @@ The following fields contain the primary properties that constitute a Descriptor
 
 - **`annotations`** *string-string map*
 
-    This OPTIONAL property contains arbitrary metadata for this descriptor.
-    This OPTIONAL property MUST use the [annotation rules](annotations.md#rules).
+  This OPTIONAL property contains arbitrary metadata for this descriptor.
+  This OPTIONAL property MUST use the [annotation rules](annotations.md#rules).
 
-Descriptors pointing to [`application/vnd.oci.image.manifest.v1+json`](manifest.md) SHOULD include the extended field `platform`, see [Image Index Property Descriptions](image-index.md#image-index-property-descriptions) for details.
-
-### Reserved
+- **`data`** *string*
 
-The following field keys are reserved and MUST NOT be used by other specifications.
+  This OPTIONAL property contains an embedded representation of the referenced content.
+  Values MUST conform to the Base 64 encoding, as defined in [RFC 4648][rfc4648-s4].
+  The decoded data MUST be identical to the referenced content and SHOULD be verified against the [`digest`](#digests) and `size` fields by content consumers.
+  See [Embedded Content](#embedded-content) for when this is appropriate.
 
-- **`data`** *string*
+Descriptors pointing to [`application/vnd.oci.image.manifest.v1+json`](manifest.md) SHOULD include the extended field `platform`, see [Image Index Property Descriptions](image-index.md#image-index-property-descriptions) for details.
 
-  This key is RESERVED for future versions of the specification.
+### Reserved
 
-All other fields may be included in other OCI specifications.
 Extended _Descriptor_ field additions proposed in other OCI specifications SHOULD first be considered for addition into this specification.
 
 ## Digests
@@ -151,6 +151,20 @@ Implementations MAY implement SHA-512 digest verification for use in descriptors
 When the _algorithm identifier_ is `sha512`, the _encoded_ portion MUST match `/[a-f0-9]{128}/`.
 Note that `[A-F]` MUST NOT be used here.
 
+## Embedded Content
+
+In many contexts, such as when downloading content over a network, resolving a descriptor to its content has a measurable fixed "roundtrip" latency cost.
+For large blobs, the fixed cost is usually inconsequential, as the majority of time will be spent actually fetching the content.
+For very small blobs, the fixed cost can be quite significant.
+
+Implementations MAY choose to embed small pieces of content directly within a descriptor to avoid roundtrips.
+
+Implementations MUST NOT populate the `data` field in situations where doing so would modify existing content identifiers.
+For example, a registry MUST NOT arbitrarily populate `data` fields within uploaded manifests, as that would modify the content identifier of those manifests.
+In contrast, a client MAY populate the `data` field before uploading a manifest, because the manifest would not yet have a content identifier in the registry.
+
+Implementations SHOULD consider portability when deciding whether to embed data, as some providers are known to refuse to accept or parse manifests that exceed a certain size.
+
 ## Examples
 
 The following example describes a [_Manifest_](manifest.md#image-manifest) with a content identifier of "sha256:5b0bcabd1ed22e9fb1310cf6c2dec7cdef19f0ad69efa1f392e94a4333501270" and a size of 7682 bytes:
@@ -179,6 +193,7 @@ In the following example, the descriptor indicates that the referenced manifest
 [rfc3986]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3986
 [rfc4634-s4.1]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4634#section-4.1
 [rfc4634-s4.2]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4634#section-4.2
+[rfc4648-s4]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4648#section-4
 [rfc6838]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6838
 [rfc6838-s4.2]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6838#section-4.2
 [rfc7230-s2.7]: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7230#section-2.7
diff --git a/specs-go/v1/descriptor.go b/specs-go/v1/descriptor.go
index 6e442a085..94f19be62 100644
--- a/specs-go/v1/descriptor.go
+++ b/specs-go/v1/descriptor.go
@@ -35,6 +35,11 @@ type Descriptor struct {
 	// Annotations contains arbitrary metadata relating to the targeted content.
 	Annotations map[string]string `json:"annotations,omitempty"`
 
+	// Data is an embedding of the targeted content. This is encoded as a base64
+	// string when marshalled to JSON (automatically, by encoding/json). If
+	// present, Data can be used directly to avoid fetching the targeted content.
+	Data []byte `json:"data,omitempty"`
+
 	// Platform describes the platform which the image in the manifest runs on.
 	//
 	// This should only be used when referring to a manifest.