diff --git a/pandas/core/series.py b/pandas/core/series.py
index e3b401cd3c88b..6d47e52cd99a4 100644
--- a/pandas/core/series.py
+++ b/pandas/core/series.py
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@
 from pandas.core.dtypes.common import (
     is_dict_like,
     is_integer,
+    is_float,
     is_iterator,
     is_list_like,
     is_object_dtype,
@@ -3102,6 +3103,10 @@ def diff(self, periods: int = 1) -> Series:
         --------
         {examples}
         """
+        if not lib.is_integer(periods):
+            if not (is_float(periods) and periods.is_integer()):
+                raise ValueError("periods must be an integer")
+            periods = int(periods)
         result = algorithms.diff(self._values, periods)
         return self._constructor(result, index=self.index, copy=False).__finalize__(
             self, method="diff"