diff --git a/pinot-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/broker/requesthandler/BaseBrokerRequestHandler.java b/pinot-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/broker/requesthandler/BaseBrokerRequestHandler.java
index 46a0839ddec..e120087c238 100644
--- a/pinot-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/broker/requesthandler/BaseBrokerRequestHandler.java
+++ b/pinot-broker/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/broker/requesthandler/BaseBrokerRequestHandler.java
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@
 import org.apache.pinot.spi.utils.CommonConstants;
 import org.apache.pinot.spi.utils.CommonConstants.Broker;
 import org.apache.pinot.spi.utils.CommonConstants.Broker.Request.QueryOptionKey;
+import org.apache.pinot.spi.utils.DataSizeUtils;
 import org.apache.pinot.spi.utils.TimestampIndexUtils;
 import org.apache.pinot.spi.utils.builder.TableNameBuilder;
 import org.apache.pinot.sql.FilterKind;
@@ -1773,17 +1774,17 @@ private void setMaxServerResponseSizeBytes(int numServers, Map<String, String> q
     }
 
     // BrokerConfig
-    Long maxServerResponseSizeBrokerConfig =
-        _config.getProperty(Broker.CONFIG_OF_MAX_SERVER_RESPONSE_SIZE_BYTES, Long.class);
+    String maxServerResponseSizeBrokerConfig = _config.getProperty(Broker.CONFIG_OF_MAX_SERVER_RESPONSE_SIZE_BYTES);
     if (maxServerResponseSizeBrokerConfig != null) {
-      queryOptions.put(QueryOptionKey.MAX_SERVER_RESPONSE_SIZE_BYTES, Long.toString(maxServerResponseSizeBrokerConfig));
+      queryOptions.put(QueryOptionKey.MAX_SERVER_RESPONSE_SIZE_BYTES,
+          Long.toString(DataSizeUtils.toBytes(maxServerResponseSizeBrokerConfig)));
       return;
     }
-    Long maxQueryResponseSizeBrokerConfig =
-        _config.getProperty(Broker.CONFIG_OF_MAX_QUERY_RESPONSE_SIZE_BYTES, Long.class);
+
+    String maxQueryResponseSizeBrokerConfig = _config.getProperty(Broker.CONFIG_OF_MAX_QUERY_RESPONSE_SIZE_BYTES);
     if (maxQueryResponseSizeBrokerConfig != null) {
       queryOptions.put(QueryOptionKey.MAX_SERVER_RESPONSE_SIZE_BYTES,
-          Long.toString(maxQueryResponseSizeBrokerConfig / numServers));
+          Long.toString(DataSizeUtils.toBytes(maxQueryResponseSizeBrokerConfig) / numServers));
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/CommonConstants.java b/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/CommonConstants.java
index 238af43595d..ba8d5213b5a 100644
--- a/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/CommonConstants.java
+++ b/pinot-spi/src/main/java/org/apache/pinot/spi/utils/CommonConstants.java
@@ -329,12 +329,14 @@ public static class Broker {
 
     // Broker config indicating the maximum serialized response size across all servers for a query. This value is
     // equally divided across all servers processing the query.
+    // The value can be in human readable format (e.g. '200K', '200KB', '0.2MB') or in raw bytes (e.g. '200000').
     public static final String CONFIG_OF_MAX_QUERY_RESPONSE_SIZE_BYTES = "pinot.broker.max.query.response.size.bytes";
 
     // Broker config indicating the maximum length of the serialized response per server for a query.
+    // If both "server.response.size" and "query.response.size" are set, then the "server.response.size" takes
+    // precedence over "query.response.size" (i.e., "query.response.size" will be ignored).
     public static final String CONFIG_OF_MAX_SERVER_RESPONSE_SIZE_BYTES = "pinot.broker.max.server.response.size.bytes";
 
-
     public static class Request {
       public static final String SQL = "sql";
       public static final String TRACE = "trace";