diff --git a/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/KafkaMessageListenerContainer.java b/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/KafkaMessageListenerContainer.java
index 1dd53fa8..7bf5f877 100644
--- a/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/KafkaMessageListenerContainer.java
+++ b/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/KafkaMessageListenerContainer.java
@@ -691,12 +691,18 @@ public class KafkaMessageListenerContainer<K, V> extends AbstractMessageListener
 
 					if (offset < 0) {
 						this.consumer.seekToEnd(topicPartition);
-						newOffset = this.consumer.position(topicPartition) + offset;
+						newOffset = Math.max(0, this.consumer.position(topicPartition) + offset);
 					}
 
-					this.consumer.seek(topicPartition, newOffset);
-					if (this.logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
-						this.logger.debug("Reset " + topicPartition + " to offset " + newOffset);
+					try {
+						this.consumer.seek(topicPartition, newOffset);
+						if (this.logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
+							this.logger.debug("Reset " + topicPartition + " to offset " + newOffset);
+						}
+					}
+					catch (Exception e) {
+						logger.error("Failed to set initial offset for " + topicPartition
+								+ " at " + newOffset + ". Positioned to " + this.consumer.position(topicPartition), e);
 					}
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/spring-kafka/src/test/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/ConcurrentMessageListenerContainerTests.java b/spring-kafka/src/test/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/ConcurrentMessageListenerContainerTests.java
index 0be60b6b..48707612 100644
--- a/spring-kafka/src/test/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/ConcurrentMessageListenerContainerTests.java
+++ b/spring-kafka/src/test/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/ConcurrentMessageListenerContainerTests.java
@@ -305,13 +305,13 @@ public class ConcurrentMessageListenerContainerTests {
 
 		props.put(ConsumerConfig.AUTO_OFFSET_RESET_CONFIG, "earliest");
 		cf = new DefaultKafkaConsumerFactory<>(props);
-		// reset minus one
-		topic1Partition0 = new TopicPartitionInitialOffset(topic3, 0, -1L);
+		// reset beginning for part 0, minus one for part 1
+		topic1Partition0 = new TopicPartitionInitialOffset(topic3, 0, -1000L);
 		topic1Partition1 = new TopicPartitionInitialOffset(topic3, 1, -1L);
 		ContainerProperties container4Props = new ContainerProperties(topic1Partition0, topic1Partition1);
 		resettingContainer = new ConcurrentMessageListenerContainer<>(cf, container4Props);
 		resettingContainer.setBeanName("b4");
-		final CountDownLatch latch4 = new CountDownLatch(2);
+		final CountDownLatch latch4 = new CountDownLatch(3);
 		final AtomicReference<String> receivedMessage = new AtomicReference<>();
 		container4Props.setMessageListener((MessageListener<Integer, String>) message -> {
 			ConcurrentMessageListenerContainerTests.this.logger.info("auto part -1: " + message);