diff --git a/net/openvswitch/datapath.c b/net/openvswitch/datapath.c
index a6d2a0b1aa21..3d7a91e64c88 100644
--- a/net/openvswitch/datapath.c
+++ b/net/openvswitch/datapath.c
@@ -1829,7 +1829,7 @@ static int ovs_dp_cmd_new(struct sk_buff *skb, struct genl_info *info)
 	parms.port_no = OVSP_LOCAL;
 	parms.upcall_portids = a[OVS_DP_ATTR_UPCALL_PID];
 	parms.desired_ifindex = a[OVS_DP_ATTR_IFINDEX]
-		? nla_get_u32(a[OVS_DP_ATTR_IFINDEX]) : 0;
+		? nla_get_s32(a[OVS_DP_ATTR_IFINDEX]) : 0;
 
 	/* So far only local changes have been made, now need the lock. */
 	ovs_lock();
@@ -2049,7 +2049,7 @@ static const struct nla_policy datapath_policy[OVS_DP_ATTR_MAX + 1] = {
 	[OVS_DP_ATTR_USER_FEATURES] = { .type = NLA_U32 },
 	[OVS_DP_ATTR_MASKS_CACHE_SIZE] =  NLA_POLICY_RANGE(NLA_U32, 0,
 		PCPU_MIN_UNIT_SIZE / sizeof(struct mask_cache_entry)),
-	[OVS_DP_ATTR_IFINDEX] = {.type = NLA_U32 },
+	[OVS_DP_ATTR_IFINDEX] = NLA_POLICY_MIN(NLA_S32, 0),
 };
 
 static const struct genl_small_ops dp_datapath_genl_ops[] = {
@@ -2302,7 +2302,7 @@ restart:
 	parms.port_no = port_no;
 	parms.upcall_portids = a[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_UPCALL_PID];
 	parms.desired_ifindex = a[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_IFINDEX]
-		? nla_get_u32(a[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_IFINDEX]) : 0;
+		? nla_get_s32(a[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_IFINDEX]) : 0;
 
 	vport = new_vport(&parms);
 	err = PTR_ERR(vport);
@@ -2539,7 +2539,7 @@ static const struct nla_policy vport_policy[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_MAX + 1] = {
 	[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_TYPE] = { .type = NLA_U32 },
 	[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_UPCALL_PID] = { .type = NLA_UNSPEC },
 	[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_OPTIONS] = { .type = NLA_NESTED },
-	[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_IFINDEX] = { .type = NLA_U32 },
+	[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_IFINDEX] = NLA_POLICY_MIN(NLA_S32, 0),
 	[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_NETNSID] = { .type = NLA_S32 },
 	[OVS_VPORT_ATTR_UPCALL_STATS] = { .type = NLA_NESTED },
 };