diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/envoyproxy_types.go b/api/v1alpha1/envoyproxy_types.go
index 9fcc6584b6b..e11da79d850 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/envoyproxy_types.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/envoyproxy_types.go
@@ -132,7 +132,8 @@ type EnvoyProxyKubernetesProvider struct {
 	// Once the HPA is being set, Replicas field from EnvoyDeployment will be ignored.
 	//
 	// +optional
-	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message="maxReplicas must be greater than 0",rule="self.maxReplicas > 0"
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message="minReplicas must be greater than 0",rule="!has(self.minReplicas) || self.minReplicas > 0"
+	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message="maxReplicas must be greater than 0",rule="!has(self.maxReplicas) || self.maxReplicas > 0"
 	// +kubebuilder:validation:XValidation:message="maxReplicas cannot be less than minReplicas",rule="!has(self.minReplicas) || self.maxReplicas >= self.minReplicas"
 	EnvoyHpa *KubernetesHorizontalPodAutoscalerSpec `json:"envoyHpa,omitempty"`
 }
diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/kubernetes_helpers.go b/api/v1alpha1/kubernetes_helpers.go
index 5a4dd43e7d9..90c75873cbb 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/kubernetes_helpers.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/kubernetes_helpers.go
@@ -108,10 +108,6 @@ func (deployment *KubernetesDeploymentSpec) defaultKubernetesDeploymentSpec(imag
 }
 
 func (hpa *KubernetesHorizontalPodAutoscalerSpec) setDefault() {
-	if hpa.MaxReplicas == 0 {
-		hpa.MaxReplicas = 1
-	}
-
 	if len(hpa.Metrics) == 0 {
 		hpa.Metrics = DefaultEnvoyProxyHpaMetrics()
 	}
diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/shared_types.go b/api/v1alpha1/shared_types.go
index 17bc7f2bf62..bcc406dba69 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/shared_types.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/shared_types.go
@@ -291,8 +291,7 @@ type KubernetesHorizontalPodAutoscalerSpec struct {
 	// See k8s.io.autoscaling.v2.HorizontalPodAutoScalerSpec
 	//
 	// +optional
-	// +kubebuilder:default=1
-	MaxReplicas int32 `json:"maxReplicas,omitempty"`
+	MaxReplicas *int32 `json:"maxReplicas,omitempty"`
 
 	// metrics contains the specifications for which to use to calculate the
 	// desired replica count (the maximum replica count across all metrics will
diff --git a/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index 99f5c0866f2..2654e070a27 100644
--- a/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/api/v1alpha1/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -1442,6 +1442,11 @@ func (in *KubernetesHorizontalPodAutoscalerSpec) DeepCopyInto(out *KubernetesHor
 		*out = new(int32)
 		**out = **in
 	}
+	if in.MaxReplicas != nil {
+		in, out := &in.MaxReplicas, &out.MaxReplicas
+		*out = new(int32)
+		**out = **in
+	}
 	if in.Metrics != nil {
 		in, out := &in.Metrics, &out.Metrics
 		*out = make([]v2.MetricSpec, len(*in))
diff --git a/charts/gateway-helm/crds/generated/gateway.envoyproxy.io_envoyproxies.yaml b/charts/gateway-helm/crds/generated/gateway.envoyproxy.io_envoyproxies.yaml
index b4d04d7291e..d0bd299aacc 100644
--- a/charts/gateway-helm/crds/generated/gateway.envoyproxy.io_envoyproxies.yaml
+++ b/charts/gateway-helm/crds/generated/gateway.envoyproxy.io_envoyproxies.yaml
@@ -5364,7 +5364,6 @@ spec:
                                 type: object
                             type: object
                           maxReplicas:
-                            default: 1
                             description: maxReplicas is the upper limit for the number
                               of replicas to which the autoscaler can scale up. It
                               cannot be less that minReplicas. It defaults to 1 replica.
@@ -5908,8 +5907,10 @@ spec:
                             type: integer
                         type: object
                         x-kubernetes-validations:
+                        - message: minReplicas must be greater than 0
+                          rule: '!has(self.minReplicas) || self.minReplicas > 0'
                         - message: maxReplicas must be greater than 0
-                          rule: self.maxReplicas > 0
+                          rule: '!has(self.maxReplicas) || self.maxReplicas > 0'
                         - message: maxReplicas cannot be less than minReplicas
                           rule: '!has(self.minReplicas) || self.maxReplicas >= self.minReplicas'
                       envoyService:
diff --git a/internal/infrastructure/kubernetes/proxy/resource_provider.go b/internal/infrastructure/kubernetes/proxy/resource_provider.go
index f463b1088b3..6ab47c0b334 100644
--- a/internal/infrastructure/kubernetes/proxy/resource_provider.go
+++ b/internal/infrastructure/kubernetes/proxy/resource_provider.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import (
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/intstr"
 	"k8s.io/utils/pointer"
+	"k8s.io/utils/ptr"
 
 	egv1a1 "github.com/envoyproxy/gateway/api/v1alpha1"
 	"github.com/envoyproxy/gateway/internal/gatewayapi"
@@ -260,7 +261,7 @@ func (r *ResourceRender) HorizontalPodAutoscaler() (*autoscalingv2.HorizontalPod
 				Name:       r.Name(),
 			},
 			MinReplicas: hpaConfig.MinReplicas,
-			MaxReplicas: hpaConfig.MaxReplicas,
+			MaxReplicas: ptr.Deref[int32](hpaConfig.MaxReplicas, 1),
 			Metrics:     hpaConfig.Metrics,
 			Behavior:    hpaConfig.Behavior,
 		},
diff --git a/internal/infrastructure/kubernetes/proxy/resource_provider_test.go b/internal/infrastructure/kubernetes/proxy/resource_provider_test.go
index 6f5c33833af..f1b295475f8 100644
--- a/internal/infrastructure/kubernetes/proxy/resource_provider_test.go
+++ b/internal/infrastructure/kubernetes/proxy/resource_provider_test.go
@@ -530,7 +530,7 @@ func TestHorizontalPodAutoscaler(t *testing.T) {
 			infra:    newTestInfra(),
 			hpa: &egv1a1.KubernetesHorizontalPodAutoscalerSpec{
 				MinReplicas: ptr.To[int32](5),
-				MaxReplicas: 10,
+				MaxReplicas: ptr.To[int32](10),
 				Metrics: []autoscalingv2.MetricSpec{
 					{
 						Resource: &autoscalingv2.ResourceMetricSource{