diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/wait/wait.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/wait/wait.go
index 561007a4263..7f2359f55cb 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/wait/wait.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/wait/wait.go
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ func newJSONPathParser(jsonPathExpression string) (*jsonpath.JSONPath, error) {
 
 // processJSONPathInput will parses the user's JSONPath input containing JSON expression and, optionally, JSON value for matching condition and process it
 func processJSONPathInput(jsonPathInput []string) (string, string, error) {
-	if numOfArgs := len(jsonPathInput); 1 < numOfArgs || numOfArgs > 2 {
+	if numOfArgs := len(jsonPathInput); numOfArgs < 1 || numOfArgs > 2 {
 		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("jsonpath wait format must be --for=jsonpath='{.status.readyReplicas}'=3 or --for=jsonpath='{.status.readyReplicas}'")
 	}
 	relaxedJSONPathExp, err := cmdget.RelaxedJSONPathExpression(jsonPathInput[0])
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/wait/wait_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/wait/wait_test.go
index 50d2b0a0989..2923b7bc3e9 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/wait/wait_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/wait/wait_test.go
@@ -1533,3 +1533,41 @@ func TestWaitForJSONPathCondition(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+// TestWaitForJSONPathBadConditionParsing will test errors in parsing JSONPath bad condition expressions
+// except for parsing JSONPath expression itself (i.e. call to cmdget.RelaxedJSONPathExpression())
+func TestWaitForJSONPathBadConditionParsing(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name           string
+		condition      string
+		expectedResult JSONPathWait
+		expectedErr    string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:        "missing JSONPath expression",
+			condition:   "jsonpath=",
+			expectedErr: "jsonpath expression cannot be empty",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "value in JSONPath expression has equal sign",
+			condition:   "jsonpath={.metadata.name}='test=wrong'",
+			expectedErr: "jsonpath wait format must be --for=jsonpath='{.status.readyReplicas}'=3 or --for=jsonpath='{.status.readyReplicas}'",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "undefined value",
+			condition:   "jsonpath={.metadata.name}=",
+			expectedErr: "jsonpath wait value cannot be empty",
+		},
+	}
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			_, err := conditionFuncFor(test.condition, io.Discard)
+			if err == nil {
+				t.Fatalf("expected %q, got empty", test.expectedErr)
+			}
+			if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), test.expectedErr) {
+				t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", test.expectedErr, err.Error())
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}