diff --git a/paasta_tools/tron_tools.py b/paasta_tools/tron_tools.py
index ccccf5f557..f5918fce25 100644
--- a/paasta_tools/tron_tools.py
+++ b/paasta_tools/tron_tools.py
@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@
 from paasta_tools import spark_tools
 
 from paasta_tools.kubernetes_tools import (
+    NodeSelectorConfig,
     allowlist_denylist_to_requirements,
+    contains_zone_label,
     get_service_account_name,
     limit_size_with_hash,
     raw_selectors_to_requirements,
@@ -248,6 +250,7 @@ class TronActionConfigDict(InstanceConfigDict, total=False):
     # maneuvering to unify
     command: str
     service_account_name: str
+    node_selectors: Dict[str, NodeSelectorConfig]
 
     # the values for this dict can be anything since it's whatever
     # spark accepts
@@ -594,18 +597,35 @@ def get_node_selectors(self) -> Dict[str, str]:
     def get_node_affinities(self) -> Optional[List[Dict[str, Union[str, List[str]]]]]:
         """Converts deploy_whitelist and deploy_blacklist in node affinities.
 
-        note: At the time of writing, `kubectl describe` does not show affinities,
+        NOTE: At the time of writing, `kubectl describe` does not show affinities,
         only selectors. To see affinities, use `kubectl get pod -o json` instead.
+
+        WARNING: At the time of writing, we only used requiredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution node affinities in Tron as we currently have
+        no use case for preferredDuringSchedulingIgnoredDuringExecution node affinities.
         """
         requirements = allowlist_denylist_to_requirements(
             allowlist=self.get_deploy_whitelist(),
             denylist=self.get_deploy_blacklist(),
         )
+        node_selectors = self.config_dict.get("node_selectors", {})
         requirements.extend(
             raw_selectors_to_requirements(
-                raw_selectors=self.config_dict.get("node_selectors", {}),  # type: ignore
+                raw_selectors=self.config_dict.get("node_selectors", {}),
             )
         )
+
+        # PAASTA-18198: To improve AZ balance with Karpenter, we temporarily allow specifying zone affinities per pool
+        pool_node_affinities = load_system_paasta_config().get_pool_node_affinities()
+        if pool_node_affinities and self.get_pool() in pool_node_affinities:
+            current_pool_node_affinities = pool_node_affinities[self.get_pool()]
+            # If the service already has a node selector for a zone, we don't want to override it
+            if current_pool_node_affinities and not contains_zone_label(node_selectors):
+                requirements.extend(
+                    raw_selectors_to_requirements(
+                        raw_selectors=current_pool_node_affinities,
+                    )
+                )
+
         if not requirements:
             return None
 
@@ -984,6 +1004,25 @@ def format_tron_action_dict(action_config: TronActionConfig):
         result["node_selectors"] = action_config.get_node_selectors()
         result["node_affinities"] = action_config.get_node_affinities()
 
+        # XXX: this is currently hardcoded since we should only really need TSC for zone-aware scheduling
+        result["topology_spread_constraints"] = [
+            {
+                # try to evenly spread pods across specified topology
+                "max_skew": 1,
+                # narrow down what pods to consider when spreading
+                "label_selector": {
+                    # only consider pods that are managed by tron
+                    "app.kubernetes.io/managed-by": "tron",
+                    # and in the same pool
+                    "paasta.yelp.com/pool": action_config.get_pool(),
+                },
+                # now, spread across AZs
+                "topology_key": "topology.kubernetes.io/zone",
+                # but if not possible, schedule even with a zonal imbalance
+                "when_unsatisfiable": "ScheduleAnyway",
+            },
+        ]
+
         # XXX: once we're off mesos we can make get_cap_* return just the cap names as a list
         result["cap_add"] = [cap["value"] for cap in action_config.get_cap_add()]
         result["cap_drop"] = [cap["value"] for cap in action_config.get_cap_drop()]