diff --git a/cinder/tests/unit/test_utils.py b/cinder/tests/unit/test_utils.py
index 3740089ff0c..6e72a712602 100644
--- a/cinder/tests/unit/test_utils.py
+++ b/cinder/tests/unit/test_utils.py
@@ -1395,25 +1395,31 @@ class TestComparableMixin(test.TestCase):
                          self.one._compare(1, self.one._cmpkey))
 
 
+@ddt.ddt
 class TestValidateInteger(test.TestCase):
 
-    def test_validate_integer_greater_than_max_int_limit(self):
-        value = (2 ** 31) + 1
+    @ddt.data(
+        (2 ** 31) + 1,  # More than max value
+        -12,  # Less than min value
+        2.05,  # Float value
+        "12.05",  # Float value in string format
+        "should be int",  # String
+        u"test"  # String in unicode format
+    )
+    def test_validate_integer_raise_assert(self, value):
         self.assertRaises(webob.exc.HTTPBadRequest,
                           utils.validate_integer,
                           value, 'limit', min_value=-1, max_value=(2 ** 31))
 
-    def test_validate_integer_less_than_min_int_limit(self):
-        value = -12
-        self.assertRaises(webob.exc.HTTPBadRequest,
-                          utils.validate_integer,
-                          value, 'limit', min_value=-1, max_value=(2 ** 31))
-
-    def test_validate_integer_invalid_limit(self):
-        value = "should_be_int"
-        self.assertRaises(webob.exc.HTTPBadRequest,
-                          utils.validate_integer,
-                          value, 'limit', min_value=-1, max_value=(2 ** 31))
+    @ddt.data(
+        "123",  # integer in string format
+        123,  # integer
+        u"123"  # integer in unicode format
+    )
+    def test_validate_integer(self, value):
+        res = utils.validate_integer(value, 'limit', min_value=-1,
+                                     max_value=(2 ** 31))
+        self.assertEqual(123, res)
 
 
 @ddt.ddt
diff --git a/cinder/utils.py b/cinder/utils.py
index 60d2a4e4574..879ee990caa 100644
--- a/cinder/utils.py
+++ b/cinder/utils.py
@@ -1038,11 +1038,10 @@ def validate_integer(value, name, min_value=None, max_value=None):
     :param max_length: the max_length of the integer
     :returns: integer
     """
-    try:
-        value = int(value)
-    except (TypeError, ValueError, UnicodeEncodeError):
+    if not strutils.is_int_like(value):
         raise webob.exc.HTTPBadRequest(explanation=(
             _('%s must be an integer.') % name))
+    value = int(value)
 
     if min_value is not None and value < min_value:
         raise webob.exc.HTTPBadRequest(