diff --git a/pkg/controller/deployment/util/deployment_util.go b/pkg/controller/deployment/util/deployment_util.go
index 772c25de25b..7324d336770 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/deployment/util/deployment_util.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/deployment/util/deployment_util.go
@@ -378,24 +378,34 @@ func FindActiveOrLatest(newRS *apps.ReplicaSet, oldRSs []*apps.ReplicaSet) *apps
 
 // GetDesiredReplicasAnnotation returns the number of desired replicas
 func GetDesiredReplicasAnnotation(logger klog.Logger, rs *apps.ReplicaSet) (int32, bool) {
-	return getIntFromAnnotation(logger, rs, DesiredReplicasAnnotation)
+	return getNonNegativeInt32FromAnnotationVerbose(logger, rs, DesiredReplicasAnnotation)
 }
 
 func getMaxReplicasAnnotation(logger klog.Logger, rs *apps.ReplicaSet) (int32, bool) {
-	return getIntFromAnnotation(logger, rs, MaxReplicasAnnotation)
+	return getNonNegativeInt32FromAnnotationVerbose(logger, rs, MaxReplicasAnnotation)
 }
 
-func getIntFromAnnotation(logger klog.Logger, rs *apps.ReplicaSet, annotationKey string) (int32, bool) {
+func getNonNegativeInt32FromAnnotationVerbose(logger klog.Logger, rs *apps.ReplicaSet, annotationKey string) (int32, bool) {
+	value, ok, err := getNonNegativeInt32FromAnnotation(rs, annotationKey)
+	if err != nil {
+		logger.V(2).Info("Could not convert the value with annotation key for the replica set", "annotationValue", rs.Annotations[annotationKey], "annotationKey", annotationKey, "replicaSet", klog.KObj(rs))
+	}
+	return value, ok
+}
+
+func getNonNegativeInt32FromAnnotation(rs *apps.ReplicaSet, annotationKey string) (int32, bool, error) {
 	annotationValue, ok := rs.Annotations[annotationKey]
 	if !ok {
-		return int32(0), false
+		return int32(0), false, nil
 	}
-	intValue, err := strconv.Atoi(annotationValue)
+	intValue, err := strconv.ParseUint(annotationValue, 10, 32)
 	if err != nil {
-		logger.V(2).Info("Could not convert the value with annotation key for the replica set", "annotationValue", annotationValue, "annotationKey", annotationKey, "replicaSet", klog.KObj(rs))
-		return int32(0), false
+		return int32(0), false, err
 	}
-	return int32(intValue), true
+	if intValue > math.MaxInt32 {
+		return int32(0), false, fmt.Errorf("value %d is out of range (higher than %d)", intValue, math.MaxInt32)
+	}
+	return int32(intValue), true, nil
 }
 
 // SetReplicasAnnotations sets the desiredReplicas and maxReplicas into the annotations
diff --git a/pkg/controller/deployment/util/deployment_util_test.go b/pkg/controller/deployment/util/deployment_util_test.go
index b02311bd410..486c738f99d 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/deployment/util/deployment_util_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/deployment/util/deployment_util_test.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 	"sort"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
@@ -1020,6 +1021,87 @@ func TestMaxUnavailable(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestGetNonNegativeInt32FromAnnotation(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name          string
+		annotations   map[string]string
+		expectedValue int32
+		expectedValid bool
+		expectedErr   string
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "invalid empty",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "invalid",
+			annotations: map[string]string{"test": "invalid", "foo": "2"},
+			expectedErr: "invalid syntax",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "invalid negative ",
+			annotations: map[string]string{"test": "-1", "foo": "2"},
+			expectedErr: "invalid syntax",
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "valid zero",
+			annotations:   map[string]string{"test": "0", "foo": "2"},
+			expectedValue: 0,
+			expectedValid: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "valid",
+			annotations:   map[string]string{"test": "13", "foo": "2"},
+			expectedValue: 13,
+			expectedValid: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:          "valid max",
+			annotations:   map[string]string{"test": fmt.Sprintf("%d", math.MaxInt32), "foo": "2"},
+			expectedValue: math.MaxInt32,
+			expectedValid: true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "invalid max out of range",
+			annotations: map[string]string{"test": fmt.Sprintf("%d", uint32(math.MaxInt32)+1), "foo": "2"},
+			expectedErr: "out of range",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "invalid max out of range 2",
+			annotations: map[string]string{"test": fmt.Sprintf("%d", uint64(math.MaxUint32)+1), "foo": "2"},
+			expectedErr: "out of range",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			tDeployment := generateDeployment("nginx")
+			tRS := generateRS(tDeployment)
+			tRS.Annotations = test.annotations
+			value, valid, err := getNonNegativeInt32FromAnnotation(&tRS, "test")
+			if test.expectedValue != value {
+				t.Fatalf("expected value:%v, got:%v", test.expectedValue, value)
+			}
+			if test.expectedValid != valid {
+				t.Fatalf("expected valid:%v, got:%v", test.expectedValid, valid)
+			}
+			if err != nil && !strings.Contains(err.Error(), test.expectedErr) {
+				t.Fatalf("unexpected error, expected: %s, got %v", test.expectedErr, err)
+			}
+			if err == nil && len(test.expectedErr) != 0 {
+				t.Fatalf("didn't return error expected %s", test.expectedErr)
+			}
+			logger, _ := ktesting.NewTestContext(t)
+			value, valid = getNonNegativeInt32FromAnnotationVerbose(logger, &tRS, "test")
+			if test.expectedValue != value {
+				t.Fatalf("expected value:%v, got:%v", test.expectedValue, value)
+			}
+			if test.expectedValid != valid {
+				t.Fatalf("expected valid:%v, got:%v", test.expectedValid, valid)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 // Set of simple tests for annotation related util functions
 func TestAnnotationUtils(t *testing.T) {