diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_kprobe.c b/kernel/trace/trace_kprobe.c
index e9092a0247bf..f2682799c215 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_kprobe.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_kprobe.c
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ static int create_trace_kprobe(int argc, char **argv)
 	bool is_return = false, is_delete = false;
 	char *symbol = NULL, *event = NULL, *group = NULL;
 	char *arg;
-	unsigned long offset = 0;
+	long offset = 0;
 	void *addr = NULL;
 	char buf[MAX_EVENT_NAME_LEN];
 
@@ -667,7 +667,7 @@ static int create_trace_kprobe(int argc, char **argv)
 		symbol = argv[1];
 		/* TODO: support .init module functions */
 		ret = traceprobe_split_symbol_offset(symbol, &offset);
-		if (ret) {
+		if (ret || offset < 0 || offset > UINT_MAX) {
 			pr_info("Failed to parse either an address or a symbol.\n");
 			return ret;
 		}
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_probe.c b/kernel/trace/trace_probe.c
index 1769a81da8a7..741c00b90fdc 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_probe.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_probe.c
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ static fetch_func_t get_fetch_size_function(const struct fetch_type *type,
 }
 
 /* Split symbol and offset. */
-int traceprobe_split_symbol_offset(char *symbol, unsigned long *offset)
+int traceprobe_split_symbol_offset(char *symbol, long *offset)
 {
 	char *tmp;
 	int ret;
@@ -301,13 +301,11 @@ int traceprobe_split_symbol_offset(char *symbol, unsigned long *offset)
 	if (!offset)
 		return -EINVAL;
 
-	tmp = strchr(symbol, '+');
+	tmp = strpbrk(symbol, "+-");
 	if (tmp) {
-		/* skip sign because kstrtoul doesn't accept '+' */
-		ret = kstrtoul(tmp + 1, 0, offset);
+		ret = kstrtol(tmp, 0, offset);
 		if (ret)
 			return ret;
-
 		*tmp = '\0';
 	} else
 		*offset = 0;
diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_probe.h b/kernel/trace/trace_probe.h
index f6398db09114..0afe921df8c8 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_probe.h
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_probe.h
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ extern int traceprobe_conflict_field_name(const char *name,
 extern void traceprobe_update_arg(struct probe_arg *arg);
 extern void traceprobe_free_probe_arg(struct probe_arg *arg);
 
-extern int traceprobe_split_symbol_offset(char *symbol, unsigned long *offset);
+extern int traceprobe_split_symbol_offset(char *symbol, long *offset);
 
 extern ssize_t traceprobe_probes_write(struct file *file,
 		const char __user *buffer, size_t count, loff_t *ppos,