diff --git a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
index 7730334ee..2f8322a37 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/cluster.go
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@ type Cluster struct {
 
 func New(config Config, cl *api.EtcdCluster) *Cluster {
 	lg := logrus.WithField("pkg", "cluster").WithField("cluster-name", cl.Name).WithField("cluster-namespace", cl.Namespace)
+	if len(cl.Name) > k8sutil.MaxNameLength || len(cl.ClusterName) > k8sutil.MaxNameLength {
+		return nil
+	}
 
 	c := &Cluster{
 		logger:    lg,
diff --git a/pkg/cluster/cluster_test.go b/pkg/cluster/cluster_test.go
index c3d88d723..8c0786997 100644
--- a/pkg/cluster/cluster_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cluster/cluster_test.go
@@ -56,3 +56,19 @@ func TestUpdateEventUpdateLocalClusterObj(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("expect version=%s, get=%s", newVersion, c.cluster.ResourceVersion)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestNewLongClusterName(t *testing.T) {
+	clus := &api.EtcdCluster{
+		TypeMeta: metav1.TypeMeta{
+			APIVersion: api.SchemeGroupVersion.String(),
+		},
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      "example-etcd-cluster123456789123456789123456789123456789123456",
+			Namespace: metav1.NamespaceDefault,
+		},
+	}
+	clus.SetClusterName("example-etcd-cluster123456789123456789123456789123456789123456")
+	if c := New(Config{}, clus); c != nil {
+		t.Errorf("expect c to be nil")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/controller/controller.go b/pkg/controller/controller.go
index 2426cf6d0..8bdf1f49e 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/controller.go
@@ -92,7 +92,9 @@ func (c *Controller) handleClusterEvent(event *Event) (bool, error) {
 		}
 
 		nc := cluster.New(c.makeClusterConfig(), clus)
-
+		if nc == nil {
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("cluster name cannot be more than %v characters long, please delete the CR\n", k8sutil.MaxNameLength)
+		}
 		c.clusters[getNamespacedName(clus)] = nc
 
 		clustersCreated.Inc()
diff --git a/pkg/controller/controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/controller_test.go
index 43d2d4cec..90ba798f7 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/controller_test.go
@@ -159,3 +159,24 @@ func TestHandleClusterEventNamespacedIgnored(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Errorf("cluster should be ignored")
 	}
 }
+
+func TestHandleClusterEventWithLongClusterName(t *testing.T) {
+	c := New(Config{})
+
+	clus := &api.EtcdCluster{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name: "example-etcd-cluster123456789123456789123456789123456789123456",
+		},
+	}
+	e := &Event{
+		Type:   watch.Added,
+		Object: clus,
+	}
+	if ignored, err := c.handleClusterEvent(e); !ignored {
+		if err == nil {
+			t.Errorf("err should not be nil")
+		}
+	} else {
+		t.Errorf("cluster should not be ignored")
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/util/k8sutil/k8sutil.go b/pkg/util/k8sutil/k8sutil.go
index 39f00a088..4f7f4e73a 100644
--- a/pkg/util/k8sutil/k8sutil.go
+++ b/pkg/util/k8sutil/k8sutil.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ const (
 
 	randomSuffixLength = 10
 	// k8s object name has a maximum length
-	maxNameLength = 63 - randomSuffixLength - 1
+	MaxNameLength = 63 - randomSuffixLength - 1
 
 	defaultBusyboxImage = "busybox:1.28.0-glibc"
 
@@ -517,8 +517,8 @@ func mergeLabels(l1, l2 map[string]string) {
 
 func UniqueMemberName(clusterName string) string {
 	suffix := utilrand.String(randomSuffixLength)
-	if len(clusterName) > maxNameLength {
-		clusterName = clusterName[:maxNameLength]
+	if len(clusterName) > MaxNameLength {
+		clusterName = clusterName[:MaxNameLength]
 	}
 	return clusterName + "-" + suffix
 }