diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/key/DeviceKey.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/key/DeviceKey.java
index 4677cc7..8122bd0 100644
--- a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/key/DeviceKey.java
+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/net/key/DeviceKey.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import org.onosproject.net.Annotations;
 import org.onosproject.net.DefaultAnnotations;
 
+import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkArgument;
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkNotNull;
 import static com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkState;
 import static org.onosproject.net.DefaultAnnotations.builder;
@@ -32,6 +33,8 @@
 @Beta
 public class DeviceKey extends AbstractAnnotated {
 
+    private static final int LABEL_MAX_LENGTH = 1024;
+
     // device key identifier
     private final DeviceKeyId deviceKeyId;
     // label of the device key
@@ -66,6 +69,9 @@
     private DeviceKey(DeviceKeyId id, String label, Type type, Annotations... annotations) {
         super(annotations);
         checkNotNull(id, "The DeviceKeyId cannot be null.");
+        if (label != null) {
+            checkArgument(label.length() <= LABEL_MAX_LENGTH, "label exceeds maximum length " + LABEL_MAX_LENGTH);
+        }
         this.deviceKeyId = id;
         this.label = label;
         this.type = type;