diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index f1def0dcfb..2d3e4d441a 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -2434,14 +2434,14 @@ int repo_config_get_expiry_in_days(struct repository *r, const char *key,
 				   timestamp_t *expiry, timestamp_t now)
 {
 	const char *expiry_string;
-	intmax_t days;
+	int days;
 	timestamp_t when;
 
 	if (repo_config_get_string_tmp(r, key, &expiry_string))
 		return 1; /* no such thing */
 
-	if (git_parse_signed(expiry_string, &days, maximum_signed_value_of_type(int))) {
-		const int scale = 86400;
+	if (git_parse_int(expiry_string, &days)) {
+		const intmax_t scale = 86400;
 		*expiry = now - days * scale;
 		return 0;
 	}