diff --git a/roles/kubernetes/preinstall/tasks/verify-settings.yml b/roles/kubernetes/preinstall/tasks/verify-settings.yml
index 0f7c8bdc3..2e50ff2cb 100644
--- a/roles/kubernetes/preinstall/tasks/verify-settings.yml
+++ b/roles/kubernetes/preinstall/tasks/verify-settings.yml
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@
 # NOTICE: the check blatantly ignores the inet6-case
 - name: Guarantee that enough network address space is available for all pods
   assert:
-    that: "{{ kubelet_max_pods <= ((32 - kube_network_node_prefix) ** 2) - 2 }}"
+    that: "{{ kubelet_max_pods <= (2 ** (32 - kube_network_node_prefix)) - 2 }}"
     msg: "Do not schedule more pods on a node than inet addresses are available."
   ignore_errors: "{{ ignore_assert_errors }}"
   when: