diff --git a/src/sage/matrix/matrix_polynomial_dense.pyx b/src/sage/matrix/matrix_polynomial_dense.pyx
index 31a13cd83d6..79e9eae4b1b 100644
--- a/src/sage/matrix/matrix_polynomial_dense.pyx
+++ b/src/sage/matrix/matrix_polynomial_dense.pyx
@@ -675,7 +675,7 @@ cdef class Matrix_polynomial_dense(Matrix_generic_dense):
             sage: M.reverse([2,3,-1])
             Traceback (most recent call last):
             ...
-            OverflowError: can't convert negative value to unsigned long
+            ValueError: degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got -1
 
         .. SEEALSO::
 
diff --git a/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_element.pyx b/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_element.pyx
index 42ecff9add5..295b2b59757 100644
--- a/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_element.pyx
+++ b/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_element.pyx
@@ -7672,9 +7672,11 @@ cdef class Polynomial(CommutativePolynomial):
 
         cdef unsigned long d
         if degree is not None:
+            if degree < 0:
+                raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s" % (degree))
             d = degree
             if d != degree:
-                raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s"%(degree))
+                raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s" % (degree))
             if len(v) < degree+1:
                 v.reverse()
                 v = [self.base_ring().zero()]*(degree+1-len(v)) + v
diff --git a/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_integer_dense_flint.pyx b/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_integer_dense_flint.pyx
index fc0e2431b9c..8498f3dd760 100644
--- a/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_integer_dense_flint.pyx
+++ b/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_integer_dense_flint.pyx
@@ -1827,9 +1827,11 @@ cdef class Polynomial_integer_dense_flint(Polynomial):
         cdef Polynomial_integer_dense_flint res = self._new()
         cdef unsigned long d
         if degree is not None:
+            if degree < 0:
+                raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s" % (degree))
             d = degree
             if d != degree:
-                raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s" % degree)
+                raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s" % (degree))
             # FLINT expects length
             fmpz_poly_reverse(res._poly, self._poly, d+1)
         else:
diff --git a/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_zmod_flint.pyx b/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_zmod_flint.pyx
index 3a66198d568..1df2497b4ad 100644
--- a/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_zmod_flint.pyx
+++ b/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_zmod_flint.pyx
@@ -815,9 +815,11 @@ cdef class Polynomial_zmod_flint(Polynomial_template):
         cdef Polynomial_zmod_flint res = self._new()
         cdef unsigned long d
         if degree is not None:
+            if degree < 0:
+                raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s" % (degree))
             d = degree
             if d != degree:
-                raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s"%(degree))
+                raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s" % (degree))
             nmod_poly_reverse(&res.x, &self.x, d+1) # FLINT expects length
         else:
             nmod_poly_reverse(&res.x, &self.x, nmod_poly_length(&self.x))
diff --git a/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_zz_pex.pyx b/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_zz_pex.pyx
index 60968b412da..295bc4fccbe 100644
--- a/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_zz_pex.pyx
+++ b/src/sage/rings/polynomial/polynomial_zz_pex.pyx
@@ -513,13 +513,18 @@ cdef class Polynomial_ZZ_pEX(Polynomial_template):
             sage: f.reverse(degree=200)
             2*x^200 + 3*x^199 + 5*x^198 + 7*x^197 + 11*x^196 + 13*x^195 + 17*x^194 + 19*x^193
             sage: f.reverse(degree=0)
-            Traceback (most recent call last):
-            ...
-            ValueError: degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got 0
+            2
             sage: f.reverse(degree=-5)
             Traceback (most recent call last):
             ...
             ValueError: degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got -5
+
+        Check that this implementation is compatible with the generic one::
+
+            sage: p = R([0,1,0,2])
+            sage: all(p.reverse(d) == Polynomial.reverse(p, d)
+            ....:     for d in [None, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4])
+            True
         """
         self._parent._modulus.restore()
 
@@ -533,11 +538,10 @@ cdef class Polynomial_ZZ_pEX(Polynomial_template):
         # When a degree has been supplied, ensure it is a valid input
         cdef unsigned long d
         if degree is not None:
-            if degree <= 0:
+            if degree < 0:
                 raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s" % (degree))
-            try:
-                d = degree
-            except ValueError:
+            d = degree
+            if d != degree:
                 raise ValueError("degree argument must be a non-negative integer, got %s" % (degree))
             ZZ_pEX_reverse_hi(r.x, (<Polynomial_ZZ_pEX> self).x, d)
         else: