diff --git a/public/src/overrides.js b/public/src/overrides.js
index 8d48b21f2a..a5216910d2 100644
--- a/public/src/overrides.js
+++ b/public/src/overrides.js
@@ -150,7 +150,12 @@ if ('undefined' !== typeof window) {
 
 	overrides.overrideTimeago = function () {
 		var timeagoFn = $.fn.timeago;
-		$.timeago.settings.cutoff = 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * (parseInt(config.timeagoCutoff, 10) || 60);
+		if (parseInt(config.timeagoCutoff, 10) === 0) {
+			$.timeago.settings.cutoff = 1;
+		} else if (parseInt(config.timeagoCutoff, 10) > 0) {
+			$.timeago.settings.cutoff = 1000 * 60 * 60 * 24 * (parseInt(config.timeagoCutoff, 10) || 30);
+		}
+
 		$.fn.timeago = function () {
 			var els = $(this);
 
diff --git a/src/controllers/api.js b/src/controllers/api.js
index f5dcdfa54e..f9e317cee7 100644
--- a/src/controllers/api.js
+++ b/src/controllers/api.js
@@ -63,7 +63,9 @@ apiController.getConfig = function (req, res, next) {
 	config.csrf_token = req.csrfToken();
 	config.searchEnabled = plugins.hasListeners('filter:search.query');
 	config.bootswatchSkin = 'default';
-	config.timeagoCutoff = meta.config.timeagoCutoff;
+
+	var timeagoCutoff = meta.config.timeagoCutoff === undefined ? 30 : meta.config.timeagoCutoff;
+	config.timeagoCutoff = timeagoCutoff !== '' ? Math.max(0, parseInt(timeagoCutoff, 10)) : timeagoCutoff;
 
 	config.cookies = {
 		enabled: parseInt(meta.config.cookieConsentEnabled, 10) === 1,
diff --git a/src/views/admin/settings/post.tpl b/src/views/admin/settings/post.tpl
index 559f7094b0..a9b784957c 100644
--- a/src/views/admin/settings/post.tpl
+++ b/src/views/admin/settings/post.tpl
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@
 				<p class="help-block">
 					Dates &amp; times will be shown in a relative manner (e.g. "3 hours ago" / "5 days ago"), and localised into various
 					languages. After a certain point, this text can be switched to display the localised date itself
-					(e.g. 5 Nov 2016 15:30).<br /><em>(Default: <code>30</code>, or one month)</em>
+					(e.g. 5 Nov 2016 15:30).<br /><em>(Default: <code>30</code>, or one month). Set to 0 to always display dates, leave blank to always display relative times.</em>
 				</p>
 			</div>
 		</form>