diff --git a/airflow/providers/apache/kafka/operators/consume.py b/airflow/providers/apache/kafka/operators/consume.py
index 02c9db6556df6..6f1c1ee61e50c 100644
--- a/airflow/providers/apache/kafka/operators/consume.py
+++ b/airflow/providers/apache/kafka/operators/consume.py
@@ -161,7 +161,8 @@ def execute(self, context) -> Any:
                 batch_size = self.max_batch_size
 
             msgs = consumer.consume(num_messages=batch_size, timeout=self.poll_timeout)
-            messages_left -= len(msgs)
+            if not self.read_to_end:
+                messages_left -= len(msgs)
 
             if not msgs:  # No messages + messages_left is being used.
                 self.log.info("Reached end of log. Exiting.")
diff --git a/tests/integration/providers/apache/kafka/operators/test_consume.py b/tests/integration/providers/apache/kafka/operators/test_consume.py
index 240b02f9be1ad..861bbbcfab35d 100644
--- a/tests/integration/providers/apache/kafka/operators/test_consume.py
+++ b/tests/integration/providers/apache/kafka/operators/test_consume.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ def setup_method(self):
                     extra=json.dumps(
                         {
                             "socket.timeout.ms": 10,
-                            "bootstrap.servers": "localhost:9092",
+                            "bootstrap.servers": "broker:29092",
                             "group.id": f"operator.consumer.test.integration.test_{num}",
                             "enable.auto.commit": False,
                             "auto.offset.reset": "beginning",
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ def test_consumer_operator_test_3(self):
         operator = ConsumeFromTopicOperator(
             kafka_config_id=TOPIC,
             topics=[TOPIC],
-            apply_function=_batch_tester,
+            apply_function_batch=_batch_tester,
             apply_function_kwargs={"test_string": TOPIC},
             task_id="test",
             poll_timeout=0.0001,
diff --git a/tests/providers/apache/kafka/operators/test_consume.py b/tests/providers/apache/kafka/operators/test_consume.py
index 178419052699c..0ce1ce6e32eb9 100644
--- a/tests/providers/apache/kafka/operators/test_consume.py
+++ b/tests/providers/apache/kafka/operators/test_consume.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import json
 import logging
 from typing import Any
+from unittest import mock
 
 from airflow.models import Connection
 
@@ -79,3 +80,31 @@ def test_operator_callable(self):
 
         # execute the operator (this is essentially a no op as the broker isn't setup)
         operator.execute(context={})
+
+    @mock.patch("airflow.providers.apache.kafka.hooks.consume.KafkaConsumerHook.get_consumer")
+    def test_operator_consume_max(self, mock_get_consumer):
+        mock_consumer = mock.MagicMock()
+
+        mocked_messages = ["test_messages" for i in range(1001)]
+
+        def mock_consume(num_messages=0, timeout=-1):
+            nonlocal mocked_messages
+            if num_messages < 0:
+                raise Exception("Number of messages needs to be positive")
+            msg_count = min(num_messages, len(mocked_messages))
+            returned_messages = mocked_messages[:msg_count]
+            mocked_messages = mocked_messages[msg_count:]
+            return returned_messages
+
+        mock_consumer.consume = mock_consume
+        mock_get_consumer.return_value = mock_consumer
+
+        operator = ConsumeFromTopicOperator(
+            kafka_config_id="kafka_d",
+            topics=["test"],
+            task_id="test",
+            poll_timeout=0.0001,
+        )
+
+        # execute the operator (this is essentially a no op as we're mocking the consumer)
+        operator.execute(context={})