diff --git a/controllers/argocd/route.go b/controllers/argocd/route.go
index d4c75da1d..5af71cd9c 100644
--- a/controllers/argocd/route.go
+++ b/controllers/argocd/route.go
@@ -393,6 +393,11 @@ func shortenHostname(hostname string) (string, error) {
 	// Check and truncate the FIRST label if longer than 63 characters
 	if len(labels[0]) > 63 {
 		labels[0] = labels[0][:63]
+
+		// Check if the FIRST label is < 20 after truncating and return an error if true
+		if len(labels[0]) < 20 {
+			return "", fmt.Errorf("first label length is less than 20 characters")
+		}
 	}
 
 	// Check other labels and return an error if any is longer than 63 characters
diff --git a/controllers/argocd/route_test.go b/controllers/argocd/route_test.go
index 412c8ed7c..4e365beb0 100644
--- a/controllers/argocd/route_test.go
+++ b/controllers/argocd/route_test.go
@@ -240,6 +240,7 @@ func TestReconcileRouteForShorteningHostname(t *testing.T) {
 	sch := makeTestReconcilerScheme(argoproj.AddToScheme, configv1.Install, routev1.Install)
 	cl := makeTestReconcilerClient(sch, resObjs, subresObjs, runtimeObjs)
 	r := makeTestReconciler(cl, sch)
+
 	assert.NoError(t, createNamespace(r, argoCD.Namespace, ""))
 
 	req := reconcile.Request{