diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_utils.go b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_utils.go
index bc07bd934b1a..b7eaa87eba90 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_utils.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_utils.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/autoscaler/cluster-autoscaler/utils/units"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -185,16 +186,16 @@ func parseCPUCapacity(annotations map[string]string) (resource.Quantity, error)
 }
 
 func parseMemoryCapacity(annotations map[string]string) (resource.Quantity, error) {
-	// the value for the memoryKey is expected to have the unit type included,
-	// eg "1024Mi". if only a number is present, we add the suffix "Mi".
+	// The value for the memoryKey is expected to be an integer representing Mebibytes. e.g. "1024".
+	// https://www.iec.ch/si/binary.htm
 	val, exists := annotations[memoryKey]
 	if exists && val != "" {
-		// TODO remove this check once we ensured that the providers are using the correct values
-		if _, err := strconv.Atoi(val); err == nil {
-			// value is a number, we will append "Mi" as the unit type
-			val = fmt.Sprintf("%sMi", val)
+		valInt, err := strconv.ParseInt(val, 10, 0)
+		if err != nil {
+			return zeroQuantity.DeepCopy(), fmt.Errorf("value %q from annotation %q expected to be an integer: %v", val, memoryKey, err)
 		}
-		return resource.ParseQuantity(val)
+		// Convert from Mebibytes to bytes
+		return *resource.NewQuantity(valInt*units.MiB, resource.DecimalSI), nil
 	}
 	return zeroQuantity.DeepCopy(), nil
 }
diff --git a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_utils_test.go b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_utils_test.go
index 78bd802d44b7..ed1b6b42feee 100644
--- a/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_utils_test.go
+++ b/cluster-autoscaler/cloudprovider/clusterapi/clusterapi_utils_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import (
 
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
 	v1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
+	"k8s.io/autoscaler/cluster-autoscaler/utils/units"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -513,20 +514,20 @@ func TestParseMemoryCapacity(t *testing.T) {
 		expectedQuantity: zeroQuantity.DeepCopy(),
 		expectedError:    true,
 	}, {
-		description:      "valid quantity without unit type",
+		description:      "valid quantity",
 		annotations:      map[string]string{memoryKey: "456"},
 		expectedError:    false,
-		expectedQuantity: resource.MustParse("456Mi"),
+		expectedQuantity: *resource.NewQuantity(456*units.MiB, resource.DecimalSI),
 	}, {
-		description:      "valid quantity with unit type (Mi)",
+		description:      "quantity with unit type (Mi)",
 		annotations:      map[string]string{memoryKey: "456Mi"},
-		expectedError:    false,
-		expectedQuantity: resource.MustParse("456Mi"),
+		expectedError:    true,
+		expectedQuantity: zeroQuantity.DeepCopy(),
 	}, {
-		description:      "valid quantity with unit type (Gi)",
+		description:      "quantity with unit type (Gi)",
 		annotations:      map[string]string{memoryKey: "8Gi"},
-		expectedError:    false,
-		expectedQuantity: resource.MustParse("8Gi"),
+		expectedError:    true,
+		expectedQuantity: zeroQuantity.DeepCopy(),
 	}} {
 		t.Run(tc.description, func(t *testing.T) {
 			got, err := parseMemoryCapacity(tc.annotations)