diff --git a/Lib/test/test_bytes.py b/Lib/test/test_bytes.py
index c27cc3abba6..06ff4c96c68 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_bytes.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_bytes.py
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ class BaseBytesTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
         self.assertEqual(self.type2test('0', 'ascii'), b'0')
         self.assertEqual(self.type2test(b'0'), b'0')
+        self.assertRaises(OverflowError, self.type2test, sys.maxsize + 1)
 
     def test_constructor_type_errors(self):
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, self.type2test, 0.0)
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS b/Misc/NEWS
index 81683c98c59..7e30651a473 100644
--- a/Misc/NEWS
+++ b/Misc/NEWS
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ What's New in Python 3.2 Alpha 1?
 Core and Builtins
 -----------------
 
+- Issue #8417: Raise an OverflowError when an integer larger than sys.maxsize is
+  passed to bytes or bytearray.
+
 - Issue #7301: Add environment variable $PYTHONWARNINGS.
 
 - Issue #8329: Don't return the same lists from select.select when no fds are
diff --git a/Objects/bytearrayobject.c b/Objects/bytearrayobject.c
index 8f833d8efdd..4d32ea70f3d 100644
--- a/Objects/bytearrayobject.c
+++ b/Objects/bytearrayobject.c
@@ -753,14 +753,18 @@ bytearray_init(PyByteArrayObject *self, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
     }
 
     /* Is it an int? */
-    count = PyNumber_AsSsize_t(arg, PyExc_ValueError);
-    if (count == -1 && PyErr_Occurred())
-        PyErr_Clear();
-    else {
-        if (count < 0) {
-            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "negative count");
+    count = PyNumber_AsSsize_t(arg, PyExc_OverflowError);
+    if (count == -1 && PyErr_Occurred()) {
+        if (PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_OverflowError))
             return -1;
-        }
+        else
+            PyErr_Clear();
+    }
+    else if (count < 0) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "negative count");
+        return -1;
+    }
+    else {
         if (count > 0) {
             if (PyByteArray_Resize((PyObject *)self, count))
                 return -1;
diff --git a/Objects/bytesobject.c b/Objects/bytesobject.c
index 890d0447df1..a05bf03d567 100644
--- a/Objects/bytesobject.c
+++ b/Objects/bytesobject.c
@@ -2545,15 +2545,17 @@ bytes_new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject *args, PyObject *kwds)
 		return new;
 	}
 	/* Is it an integer? */
-	size = PyNumber_AsSsize_t(x, PyExc_ValueError);
+	size = PyNumber_AsSsize_t(x, PyExc_OverflowError);
 	if (size == -1 && PyErr_Occurred()) {
+		if (PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_OverflowError))
+			return NULL;
 		PyErr_Clear();		
 	}
+	else if (size < 0) {
+		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "negative count");
+		return NULL;
+	}
 	else {
-		if (size < 0) {
-			PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ValueError, "negative count");
-			return NULL;
-		}
 		new = PyBytes_FromStringAndSize(NULL, size);
 		if (new == NULL) {
 			return NULL;