diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/config.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/config.go
index bf2abd281c..4ee4d2dbd5 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/config.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/config.go
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ var settings = []Setting{
 	{
 		name:        "memory",
 		set:         SetString,
-		validations: []setFn{IsValidDiskSize},
+		validations: []setFn{IsValidMemory},
 		callbacks:   []setFn{RequiresRestartMsg},
 	},
 	{
diff --git a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/validations.go b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/validations.go
index 071512daea..c88de5c7f3 100644
--- a/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/validations.go
+++ b/cmd/minikube/cmd/config/validations.go
@@ -53,6 +53,15 @@ func IsValidDiskSize(name string, disksize string) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// IsValidMemory checks if a string is a valid memory size
+func IsValidMemory(name string, memsize string) error {
+	_, err := units.FromHumanSize(memsize)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid memory size: %v", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // IsValidURL checks if a location is a valid URL
 func IsValidURL(name string, location string) error {
 	_, err := url.Parse(location)