diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
index b23accbbb941..909c99dbe267 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/SparkContext.scala
@@ -894,9 +894,6 @@ class SparkContext(
       partitions: Seq[Int],
       allowLocal: Boolean,
       resultHandler: (Int, U) => Unit) {
-    partitions.foreach{ p =>
-      require(p >= 0 && p < rdd.partitions.size, s"Invalid partition requested: $p")
-    }
     val callSite = getCallSite
     val cleanedFunc = clean(func)
     logInfo("Starting job: " + callSite)
@@ -1000,9 +997,6 @@ class SparkContext(
       resultHandler: (Int, U) => Unit,
       resultFunc: => R): SimpleFutureAction[R] =
   {
-    partitions.foreach{ p =>
-      require(p >= 0 && p < rdd.partitions.size, s"Invalid partition requested: $p")
-    }
     val cleanF = clean(processPartition)
     val callSite = getCallSite
     val waiter = dagScheduler.submitJob(
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/DAGScheduler.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/DAGScheduler.scala
index 77c558ac46f6..9e6fbb897e7d 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/DAGScheduler.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/scheduler/DAGScheduler.scala
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ class DAGScheduler(
   {
     // Check to make sure we are not launching a task on a partition that does not exist.
     val maxPartitions = rdd.partitions.length
-    partitions.find(p => p >= maxPartitions).foreach { p =>
+    partitions.find(p => p < 0 || p >= maxPartitions).foreach { p =>
       throw new IllegalArgumentException(
         "Attempting to access a non-existent partition: " + p + ". " +
           "Total number of partitions: " + maxPartitions)