diff --git a/pkg/validation/strfmt/duration.go b/pkg/validation/strfmt/duration.go
index 04545296b..f555abe1a 100644
--- a/pkg/validation/strfmt/duration.go
+++ b/pkg/validation/strfmt/duration.go
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ var (
 		"w":  7 * 24 * time.Hour,
 	}
 
-	durationMatcher = regexp.MustCompile(`((\d+)\s*([A-Za-zµ]+))`)
+	durationValidator = regexp.MustCompile(`^\s*(?:\d+\s*[A-Za-zµ]+\s*)+$`)
+	durationMatcher   = regexp.MustCompile(`((\d+)\s*([A-Za-zµ]+))`)
 )
 
 // IsDuration returns true if the provided string is a valid duration
@@ -90,6 +91,10 @@ func ParseDuration(cand string) (time.Duration, error) {
 		return dur, nil
 	}
 
+	if !durationValidator.MatchString(cand) {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("unable to parse %s as duration", cand)
+	}
+
 	var dur time.Duration
 	ok := false
 	for _, match := range durationMatcher.FindAllStringSubmatch(cand, -1) {
diff --git a/pkg/validation/strfmt/duration_test.go b/pkg/validation/strfmt/duration_test.go
index eeb4ff35d..ad9a80bb7 100644
--- a/pkg/validation/strfmt/duration_test.go
+++ b/pkg/validation/strfmt/duration_test.go
@@ -80,6 +80,24 @@ func TestIsDuration_Failed(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.False(t, e)
 }
 
+func TestDurationInvalidToken(t *testing.T) {
+	badDurations := []string{
+		"1s invalid",
+		"invalid 1s",
+		"1s   invalid",
+		"invalid   1s",
+		"1s 2m invalid",
+		"1s invalid 2m",
+	}
+	for _, d := range badDurations {
+		t.Run(d, func(t *testing.T) {
+			assert.False(t, IsDuration(d), "Expected IsDuration(%q) to be false", d)
+			_, err := ParseDuration(d)
+			assert.Error(t, err, "Expected ParseDuration(%q) to return an error", d)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestDurationParser(t *testing.T) {
 	testcases := map[string]time.Duration{
 
@@ -138,6 +156,14 @@ func TestDurationParser(t *testing.T) {
 		"1  hour":         1 * time.Hour,
 		"1  day":          24 * time.Hour,
 		"1  week":         7 * 24 * time.Hour,
+
+		// parse composite durations, without spaces
+		"1w2s":     7*24*time.Hour + 2*time.Second,
+		"1d2h3m5s": 24*time.Hour + 2*time.Hour + 3*time.Minute + 5*time.Second,
+
+		// parse composite durations, with spaces
+		"1s 2m":       2*time.Minute + 1*time.Second,
+		"1w 2d 3h 4m": 7*24*time.Hour + 2*24*time.Hour + 3*time.Hour + 4*time.Minute,
 	}
 
 	for str, dur := range testcases {