diff --git a/lib/nlattr.c b/lib/nlattr.c
index 8bf78b4b78f0..dfa55c873c13 100644
--- a/lib/nlattr.c
+++ b/lib/nlattr.c
@@ -15,7 +15,11 @@
 #include <linux/types.h>
 #include <net/netlink.h>
 
-/* for these data types attribute length must be exactly given size */
+/* For these data types, attribute length should be exactly the given
+ * size. However, to maintain compatibility with broken commands, if the
+ * attribute length does not match the expected size a warning is emitted
+ * to the user that the command is sending invalid data and needs to be fixed.
+ */
 static const u8 nla_attr_len[NLA_TYPE_MAX+1] = {
 	[NLA_U8]	= sizeof(u8),
 	[NLA_U16]	= sizeof(u16),
@@ -28,8 +32,16 @@ static const u8 nla_attr_len[NLA_TYPE_MAX+1] = {
 };
 
 static const u8 nla_attr_minlen[NLA_TYPE_MAX+1] = {
+	[NLA_U8]	= sizeof(u8),
+	[NLA_U16]	= sizeof(u16),
+	[NLA_U32]	= sizeof(u32),
+	[NLA_U64]	= sizeof(u64),
 	[NLA_MSECS]	= sizeof(u64),
 	[NLA_NESTED]	= NLA_HDRLEN,
+	[NLA_S8]	= sizeof(s8),
+	[NLA_S16]	= sizeof(s16),
+	[NLA_S32]	= sizeof(s32),
+	[NLA_S64]	= sizeof(s64),
 };
 
 static int validate_nla_bitfield32(const struct nlattr *nla,
@@ -69,11 +81,9 @@ static int validate_nla(const struct nlattr *nla, int maxtype,
 
 	BUG_ON(pt->type > NLA_TYPE_MAX);
 
-	/* for data types NLA_U* and NLA_S* require exact length */
-	if (nla_attr_len[pt->type]) {
-		if (attrlen != nla_attr_len[pt->type])
-			return -ERANGE;
-		return 0;
+	if (nla_attr_len[pt->type] && attrlen != nla_attr_len[pt->type]) {
+		pr_warn_ratelimited("netlink: '%s': attribute type %d has an invalid length.\n",
+				    current->comm, type);
 	}
 
 	switch (pt->type) {