diff --git a/src/networkd.c b/src/networkd.c
index ec9f78203..c3df27652 100644
--- a/src/networkd.c
+++ b/src/networkd.c
@@ -591,7 +591,7 @@ write_route(NetplanIPRoute* r, GString* s)
     if (r->onlink)
         g_string_append_printf(s, "GatewayOnLink=true\n");
     if (r->metric != NETPLAN_METRIC_UNSPEC)
-        g_string_append_printf(s, "Metric=%d\n", r->metric);
+        g_string_append_printf(s, "Metric=%u\n", r->metric);
     if (r->table != NETPLAN_ROUTE_TABLE_UNSPEC)
         g_string_append_printf(s, "Table=%d\n", r->table);
     if (r->mtubytes != NETPLAN_MTU_UNSPEC)
diff --git a/src/nm.c b/src/nm.c
index 358cedf48..1b7916b55 100644
--- a/src/nm.c
+++ b/src/nm.c
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ write_routes(const NetplanNetDefinition* def, GKeyFile *kf, int family, GError**
             tmp_key = g_strdup_printf("route%d", j);
             tmp_val = g_string_new(destination);
             if (cur_route->metric != NETPLAN_METRIC_UNSPEC)
-                g_string_append_printf(tmp_val, ",%s,%d", is_global ? cur_route->via : "",
+                g_string_append_printf(tmp_val, ",%s,%u", is_global ? cur_route->via : "",
                                        cur_route->metric);
             else if (is_global) // no metric, but global gateway
                 g_string_append_printf(tmp_val, ",%s", cur_route->via);
diff --git a/src/validation.c b/src/validation.c
index 5649fbeda..4c62f0e01 100644
--- a/src/validation.c
+++ b/src/validation.c
@@ -555,7 +555,7 @@ defroute_err(struct _defroute_entry *entry, const char *new_netdef_id, GError **
     if (entry->metric == NETPLAN_METRIC_UNSPEC)
         strncpy(metric_name, "metric: default", sizeof(metric_name) - 1);
     else
-        snprintf(metric_name, sizeof(metric_name) - 1, "metric: %d", entry->metric);
+        snprintf(metric_name, sizeof(metric_name) - 1, "metric: %u", entry->metric);
 
     g_set_error(error, NETPLAN_VALIDATION_ERROR, NETPLAN_ERROR_CONFIG_GENERIC,
             "Conflicting default route declarations for %s (%s, %s), first declared in %s but also in %s",
diff --git a/tests/generator/test_routing.py b/tests/generator/test_routing.py
index 006ec1933..f3ed2b385 100644
--- a/tests/generator/test_routing.py
+++ b/tests/generator/test_routing.py
@@ -806,6 +806,35 @@ def test_type_local_lp1892272(self):
 UseMTU=true
 '''})
 
+    def test_route_metric_rendering_lp2023681(self):
+        """Validate metric rendering is unsigned
+        (can render up to 4294967294, 4294967295 is used internally to define an unset value)
+        """
+
+        self.generate('''network:
+  version: 2
+  ethernets:
+    engreen:
+      addresses: ["192.168.14.2/24"]
+      routes:
+        - to: 10.10.10.0/24
+          via: 192.168.14.20
+          metric: 4294967294
+          ''')
+
+        self.assert_networkd({'engreen.network': '''[Match]
+Name=engreen
+
+[Network]
+LinkLocalAddressing=ipv6
+Address=192.168.14.2/24
+
+[Route]
+Destination=10.10.10.0/24
+Gateway=192.168.14.20
+Metric=4294967294
+'''})
+
 
 class TestNetworkManager(TestBase):
 
@@ -1537,4 +1566,38 @@ def test_add_duplicate_routes_from_multiple_files(self):
 [RoutingPolicyRule]
 From=10.0.0.2
 Table=1002
+'''})
+
+    def test_route_metric_rendering_lp2023681(self):
+        """Validate metric rendering is unsigned
+        (can render up to 4294967294, 4294967295 is used internally to define an unset value)
+        """
+
+        self.generate('''network:
+  version: 2
+  renderer: NetworkManager
+  ethernets:
+    engreen:
+      addresses: ["192.168.14.2/24"]
+      routes:
+        - to: 10.10.10.0/24
+          via: 192.168.14.20
+          metric: 4294967294
+          ''')
+
+        self.assert_nm({'engreen': '''[connection]
+id=netplan-engreen
+type=ethernet
+interface-name=engreen
+
+[ethernet]
+wake-on-lan=0
+
+[ipv4]
+method=manual
+address1=192.168.14.2/24
+route1=10.10.10.0/24,192.168.14.20,4294967294
+
+[ipv6]
+method=ignore
 '''})