diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/AdminResource.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/AdminResource.java
index dc92aeb0c7703..5f2f031a2d400 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/AdminResource.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/AdminResource.java
@@ -857,6 +857,21 @@ protected void validatePersistencePolicies(PersistencePolicies persistence) {
 
     }
 
+    protected void validateRetentionPolicies(RetentionPolicies retention) {
+        if (retention == null) {
+            return;
+        }
+        checkArgument(retention.getRetentionSizeInMB() >= -1,
+                "Invalid retention policy: size limit must be >= -1");
+        checkArgument(retention.getRetentionTimeInMinutes() >= -1,
+                "Invalid retention policy: time limit must be >= -1");
+        checkArgument((retention.getRetentionTimeInMinutes() != 0 && retention.getRetentionSizeInMB() != 0)
+                        || (retention.getRetentionTimeInMinutes() == 0 && retention.getRetentionSizeInMB() == 0),
+                "Invalid retention policy: Setting a single time or size limit to 0 is invalid when "
+                        + "one of the limits has a non-zero value. Use the value of -1 instead of 0 to ignore a "
+                        + "specific limit. To disable retention both limits must be set to 0.");
+    }
+
     protected void validateEntryFilters(EntryFilters entryFilters) {
         if (entryFilters == null) {
             // remove entry filters
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/NamespacesBase.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/NamespacesBase.java
index ca4c685b2806a..c866d2d6f8af2 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/NamespacesBase.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/NamespacesBase.java
@@ -1995,21 +1995,6 @@ private CompletableFuture<Void> validatePoliciesAsync(NamespaceName ns, Policies
             });
     }
 
-    protected void validateRetentionPolicies(RetentionPolicies retention) {
-        if (retention == null) {
-            return;
-        }
-        checkArgument(retention.getRetentionSizeInMB() >= -1,
-                "Invalid retention policy: size limit must be >= -1");
-        checkArgument(retention.getRetentionTimeInMinutes() >= -1,
-                "Invalid retention policy: time limit must be >= -1");
-        checkArgument((retention.getRetentionTimeInMinutes() != 0 && retention.getRetentionSizeInMB() != 0)
-                        || (retention.getRetentionTimeInMinutes() == 0 && retention.getRetentionSizeInMB() == 0),
-                "Invalid retention policy: Setting a single time or size limit to 0 is invalid when "
-                        + "one of the limits has a non-zero value. Use the value of -1 instead of 0 to ignore a "
-                        + "specific limit. To disable retention both limits must be set to 0.");
-    }
-
     protected void internalSetDeduplicationSnapshotInterval(Integer interval) {
         validateNamespacePolicyOperation(namespaceName, PolicyName.DEDUPLICATION_SNAPSHOT, PolicyOperation.WRITE);
         if (interval != null && interval < 0) {
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/PersistentTopicsBase.java b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/PersistentTopicsBase.java
index e88b1110d0ad7..ed47650f42a64 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/PersistentTopicsBase.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/impl/PersistentTopicsBase.java
@@ -3489,6 +3489,7 @@ protected CompletableFuture<RetentionPolicies> internalGetRetention(boolean appl
     }
 
     protected CompletableFuture<Void> internalSetRetention(RetentionPolicies retention, boolean isGlobal) {
+        validateRetentionPolicies(retention);
         if (retention == null) {
             return CompletableFuture.completedFuture(null);
         }
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/TopicPoliciesTest.java b/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/TopicPoliciesTest.java
index dc9a7ec4429fc..c6a78d275dd27 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/TopicPoliciesTest.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/admin/TopicPoliciesTest.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 import java.util.UUID;
 import java.util.concurrent.CompletableFuture;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+import javax.ws.rs.BadRequestException;
 import lombok.Cleanup;
 import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
 import org.apache.bookkeeper.mledger.ManagedLedgerConfig;
@@ -634,6 +635,35 @@ public void testSetRetention() throws Exception {
         admin.topics().deletePartitionedTopic(testTopic, true);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testRetentionPolicyValidation() throws Exception {
+        // should pass
+        admin.topicPolicies().setRetention(testTopic, new RetentionPolicies());
+        admin.topicPolicies().setRetention(testTopic, new RetentionPolicies(-1, -1));
+        admin.topicPolicies().setRetention(testTopic, new RetentionPolicies(1, 1));
+
+        // should not pass validation
+        assertInvalidRetentionPolicy(testTopic, 1, 0);
+        assertInvalidRetentionPolicy(testTopic, 0, 1);
+        assertInvalidRetentionPolicy(testTopic, -1, 0);
+        assertInvalidRetentionPolicy(testTopic, 0, -1);
+        assertInvalidRetentionPolicy(testTopic, -2, 1);
+        assertInvalidRetentionPolicy(testTopic, 1, -2);
+
+        admin.topics().deletePartitionedTopic(testTopic, true);
+    }
+
+    private void assertInvalidRetentionPolicy(String topicName, int retentionTimeInMinutes, int retentionSizeInMB) {
+        try {
+            RetentionPolicies retention = new RetentionPolicies(retentionTimeInMinutes, retentionSizeInMB);
+            admin.topicPolicies().setRetention(topicName, retention);
+            fail("Validation should have failed for " + retention);
+        } catch (PulsarAdminException e) {
+            assertTrue(e.getCause() instanceof BadRequestException);
+            assertTrue(e.getMessage().startsWith("Invalid retention policy"));
+        }
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testRemoveRetention() throws Exception {
 
diff --git a/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/SubscriptionSeekTest.java b/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/SubscriptionSeekTest.java
index 3a9c5c43f1c54..4970dc8818854 100644
--- a/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/SubscriptionSeekTest.java
+++ b/pulsar-broker/src/test/java/org/apache/pulsar/broker/service/SubscriptionSeekTest.java
@@ -928,7 +928,7 @@ public void testSeekByFunctionAndMultiTopic() throws Exception {
     public void testSeekWillNotEncounteredFencedError() throws Exception {
         String topicName = "persistent://prop/ns-abc/my-topic2";
         admin.topics().createNonPartitionedTopic(topicName);
-        admin.topicPolicies().setRetention(topicName, new RetentionPolicies(3600, 0));
+        admin.topicPolicies().setRetention(topicName, new RetentionPolicies(3600, -1));
         // Create a pulsar client with a subscription fenced counter.
         ClientBuilderImpl clientBuilder = (ClientBuilderImpl) PulsarClient.builder().serviceUrl(lookupUrl.toString());
         AtomicInteger receivedFencedErrorCounter = new AtomicInteger();