diff --git a/.github/workflows/panel-scripts.yml b/.github/workflows/panel-scripts.yml
index 936d76f..f6b1580 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/panel-scripts.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/panel-scripts.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ on:
   push:
     branches: [main]
     paths:
+      - custom.sh
       - debug.sh
       - dev.sh
       - plugin.sh
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ on:
       - .github/workflows/panel-scripts.yml
   pull_request:
     paths:
+      - custom.sh
       - debug.sh
       - dev.sh
       - plugin.sh
@@ -44,7 +46,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - run: shellcheck -x service.sh utils/ensure_auth_cookie_domain.sh utils/ensure_node_ip.sh utils/dev_game_server.sh utils/gpu_nodes.sh tests/scripts/*.sh tests/scripts/stub/kubectl
+      - run: shellcheck -x service.sh utils/ensure_auth_cookie_domain.sh utils/ensure_node_ip.sh utils/dev_game_server.sh utils/gpu_nodes.sh utils/choose_node.sh tests/scripts/*.sh tests/scripts/stub/kubectl
       - run: bash tests/scripts/setup_env_test.sh
       - run: bash tests/scripts/apply_overlay_test.sh
       - run: bash tests/scripts/debug_test.sh
@@ -58,3 +60,4 @@ jobs:
       - run: bash tests/scripts/gpu_nodes_test.sh
       - run: bash tests/scripts/service_test.sh
       - run: bash tests/scripts/postgres_backup_test.sh
+      - run: bash tests/scripts/choose_node_test.sh
diff --git a/custom.sh b/custom.sh
index 79f1d27..c5f4685 100755
--- a/custom.sh
+++ b/custom.sh
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 # utils.sh reassigns SCRIPT_DIR to utils/, so keep our own copy of the repo root
 PANEL_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR"
 source "$SCRIPT_DIR/utils/utils.sh" "$@"
+source "$PANEL_DIR/utils/choose_node.sh"
 
 CUSTOM_DIR=""
 
@@ -59,11 +60,7 @@ select_node() {
     ALL_NODES=$(get_all_nodes)
     echo "Select the node to deploy the custom resource to:"
     IFS=' ' read -r -a NODE_ARRAY <<< "$ALL_NODES"
-    for i in "${!NODE_ARRAY[@]}"; do
-        echo "$((i+1)). ${NODE_ARRAY[$i]}"
-    done
-    read -p "Enter the number of the node: " NODE_INDEX
-    NODE_NAME=${NODE_ARRAY[$((NODE_INDEX-1))]}
+    NODE_NAME="$(choose_node "${NODE_ARRAY[@]}")" || exit 1
     echo "Selected node: $NODE_NAME"
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/scripts/choose_node_test.sh b/tests/scripts/choose_node_test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..17bb906
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/scripts/choose_node_test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# shellcheck source=tests/scripts/lib.sh
+source "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/lib.sh"
+# shellcheck source=utils/choose_node.sh
+source "$TEST_ROOT/utils/choose_node.sh"
+
+pick() {
+    printf '%s\n' "$@" | choose_node node-a node-b node-c 2>"$WORK_DIR/asked"
+}
+
+test_a_number_picks_that_node() {
+    assert_eq "$(pick 2)" "node-b"
+}
+
+test_leading_zeros_count_as_decimal() {
+    assert_eq "$(pick 03)" "node-c"
+}
+
+test_a_number_out_of_range_is_asked_again() {
+    assert_eq "$(pick 0 4 1)" "node-a"
+    assert_contains "$(cat "$WORK_DIR/asked")" "Enter a number from 1 to 3."
+}
+
+test_only_digits_count_as_an_answer() {
+    assert_eq "$(pick two 1+1 -1 2x 1)" "node-a"
+}
+
+test_no_answer_chooses_nothing() {
+    if pick >/dev/null; then
+        fail "chose a node without an answer"
+    fi
+}
+
+test_no_nodes_chooses_nothing() {
+    if printf '1\n' | choose_node 2>/dev/null; then
+        fail "chose a node from an empty list"
+    fi
+}
+
+run_tests
diff --git a/utils/choose_node.sh b/utils/choose_node.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ee8ed67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/utils/choose_node.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+choose_node() {
+    local nodes=("$@") answer i
+    [ "${#nodes[@]}" -gt 0 ] || return 1
+    for i in "${!nodes[@]}"; do
+        echo "$((i + 1)). ${nodes[$i]}" >&2
+    done
+    while true; do
+        read -r -p "Enter the number of the node: " answer || return 1
+        if [[ "$answer" =~ ^[0-9]{1,9}$ ]] && ((10#$answer >= 1 && 10#$answer <= ${#nodes[@]})); then
+            echo "${nodes[$((10#$answer - 1))]}"
+            return 0
+        fi
+        echo "Enter a number from 1 to ${#nodes[@]}." >&2
+    done
+}