diff --git a/consumer.go b/consumer.go
index 461026eb6..4b29ab2a8 100644
--- a/consumer.go
+++ b/consumer.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package sarama
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"math"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
@@ -591,6 +592,10 @@ func (child *partitionConsumer) parseResponse(response *FetchResponse) ([]*Consu
 				child.offset++ // skip this one so we can keep processing future messages
 			} else {
 				child.fetchSize *= 2
+				// check int32 overflow
+				if child.fetchSize < 0 {
+					child.fetchSize = math.MaxInt32
+				}
 				if child.conf.Consumer.Fetch.Max > 0 && child.fetchSize > child.conf.Consumer.Fetch.Max {
 					child.fetchSize = child.conf.Consumer.Fetch.Max
 				}