diff --git a/server/config/config.go b/server/config/config.go
index 32b7a26191b..b4a8f61a575 100644
--- a/server/config/config.go
+++ b/server/config/config.go
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ import (
 	"go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3/storage/datadir"
 )
 
+const (
+	grpcOverheadBytes = 512 * 1024
+)
+
 // ServerConfig holds the configuration of etcd as taken from the command line or discovery.
 type ServerConfig struct {
 	Name string
@@ -358,3 +362,7 @@ func (c *ServerConfig) BootstrapTimeoutEffective() time.Duration {
 }
 
 func (c *ServerConfig) BackendPath() string { return datadir.ToBackendFileName(c.DataDir) }
+
+func (c *ServerConfig) MaxRequestBytesWithOverhead() uint {
+	return c.MaxRequestBytes + grpcOverheadBytes
+}
diff --git a/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/grpc.go b/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/grpc.go
index a20a9cd3f58..32949207805 100644
--- a/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/grpc.go
+++ b/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/grpc.go
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 const (
-	grpcOverheadBytes = 512 * 1024
-	maxSendBytes      = math.MaxInt32
+	maxSendBytes = math.MaxInt32
 )
 
 func Server(s *etcdserver.EtcdServer, tls *tls.Config, interceptor grpc.UnaryServerInterceptor, gopts ...grpc.ServerOption) *grpc.Server {
@@ -62,7 +61,7 @@ func Server(s *etcdserver.EtcdServer, tls *tls.Config, interceptor grpc.UnarySer
 	opts = append(opts, grpc.ChainUnaryInterceptor(chainUnaryInterceptors...))
 	opts = append(opts, grpc.ChainStreamInterceptor(chainStreamInterceptors...))
 
-	opts = append(opts, grpc.MaxRecvMsgSize(int(s.Cfg.MaxRequestBytes+grpcOverheadBytes)))
+	opts = append(opts, grpc.MaxRecvMsgSize(int(s.Cfg.MaxRequestBytesWithOverhead())))
 	opts = append(opts, grpc.MaxSendMsgSize(maxSendBytes))
 	opts = append(opts, grpc.MaxConcurrentStreams(s.Cfg.MaxConcurrentStreams))
 
diff --git a/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/watch.go b/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/watch.go
index 49bf81fcae6..b0a7e4a1926 100644
--- a/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/watch.go
+++ b/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/watch.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ type watchServer struct {
 	clusterID int64
 	memberID  int64
 
-	maxRequestBytes int
+	maxRequestBytes uint
 
 	sg        apply.RaftStatusGetter
 	watchable mvcc.WatchableKV
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ func NewWatchServer(s *etcdserver.EtcdServer) pb.WatchServer {
 		clusterID: int64(s.Cluster().ID()),
 		memberID:  int64(s.MemberID()),
 
-		maxRequestBytes: int(s.Cfg.MaxRequestBytes + grpcOverheadBytes),
+		maxRequestBytes: s.Cfg.MaxRequestBytesWithOverhead(),
 
 		sg:        s,
 		watchable: s.Watchable(),
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ type serverWatchStream struct {
 	clusterID int64
 	memberID  int64
 
-	maxRequestBytes int
+	maxRequestBytes uint
 
 	sg        apply.RaftStatusGetter
 	watchable mvcc.WatchableKV
@@ -544,12 +544,12 @@ func IsCreateEvent(e mvccpb.Event) bool {
 
 func sendFragments(
 	wr *pb.WatchResponse,
-	maxRequestBytes int,
+	maxRequestBytes uint,
 	sendFunc func(*pb.WatchResponse) error,
 ) error {
 	// no need to fragment if total request size is smaller
 	// than max request limit or response contains only one event
-	if wr.Size() < maxRequestBytes || len(wr.Events) < 2 {
+	if uint(wr.Size()) < maxRequestBytes || len(wr.Events) < 2 {
 		return sendFunc(wr)
 	}
 
@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ func sendFragments(
 		cur := ow
 		for _, ev := range wr.Events[idx:] {
 			cur.Events = append(cur.Events, ev)
-			if len(cur.Events) > 1 && cur.Size() >= maxRequestBytes {
+			if len(cur.Events) > 1 && uint(cur.Size()) >= maxRequestBytes {
 				cur.Events = cur.Events[:len(cur.Events)-1]
 				break
 			}
diff --git a/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/watch_test.go b/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/watch_test.go
index e7868ddf8d2..caa86f91ad7 100644
--- a/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/watch_test.go
+++ b/server/etcdserver/api/v3rpc/watch_test.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import (
 func TestSendFragment(t *testing.T) {
 	tt := []struct {
 		wr              *pb.WatchResponse
-		maxRequestBytes int
+		maxRequestBytes uint
 		fragments       int
 		werr            error
 	}{