diff --git a/configfile.c b/configfile.c
index 498742f8..6e00205d 100644
--- a/configfile.c
+++ b/configfile.c
@@ -564,7 +564,7 @@ _parse_config(t_configuration_options *options, ItemList *error_list, ItemList *
 		else if (strcmp(name, "monitoring_history") == 0)
 			options->monitoring_history = parse_bool(value, name, error_list);
 		else if (strcmp(name, "degraded_monitoring_timeout") == 0)
-			options->degraded_monitoring_timeout = repmgr_atoi(value, name, error_list, 1);
+			options->degraded_monitoring_timeout = repmgr_atoi(value, name, error_list, -1);
 		else if (strcmp(name, "async_query_timeout") == 0)
 			options->async_query_timeout = repmgr_atoi(value, name, error_list, 0);
 		else if (strcmp(name, "primary_notification_timeout") == 0)