diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/nodecontroller.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/nodecontroller.go
index 953e549e615..4823c437b16 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/nodecontroller.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/nodecontroller.go
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func (o *NodeControllerOptions) Validate() []error {
 		return nil
 	}
 	var errors []error
-	if o.ConcurrentNodeSyncs < 0 {
+	if o.ConcurrentNodeSyncs <= 0 {
 		errors = append(errors, fmt.Errorf("concurrent-node-syncs must be a positive number"))
 	}
 	return errors
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/nodecontroller_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/nodecontroller_test.go
index 350b10c48b4..6c024a9dabe 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/nodecontroller_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/cloud-provider/options/nodecontroller_test.go
@@ -47,11 +47,12 @@ func TestNodeControllerConcurrentNodeSyncsValidation(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			desc:   "negative value",
 			input:  &NodeControllerOptions{NodeControllerConfiguration: &nodeconfig.NodeControllerConfiguration{ConcurrentNodeSyncs: -5}},
-			expect: []error{fmt.Errorf("node-controller-concurrent-node-syncs must be a positive number")},
+			expect: []error{fmt.Errorf("concurrent-node-syncs must be a positive number")},
 		},
 		{
-			desc:  "non negative value",
-			input: &NodeControllerOptions{NodeControllerConfiguration: &nodeconfig.NodeControllerConfiguration{ConcurrentNodeSyncs: 0}},
+			desc:   "zero value",
+			input:  &NodeControllerOptions{NodeControllerConfiguration: &nodeconfig.NodeControllerConfiguration{ConcurrentNodeSyncs: 0}},
+			expect: []error{fmt.Errorf("concurrent-node-syncs must be a positive number")},
 		},
 		{
 			desc:  "positive value",