diff --git a/src/cfgparse.c b/src/cfgparse.c
index 261a0eb..3706bca 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse.c
@@ -916,7 +916,13 @@
 			err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
 			goto out;
 		}
-		global.tune.max_http_hdr = atol(args[1]);
+		global.tune.max_http_hdr = atoi(args[1]);
+		if (global.tune.max_http_hdr < 1 || global.tune.max_http_hdr > 32767) {
+			Alert("parsing [%s:%d] : '%s' expects a numeric value between 1 and 32767\n",
+			      file, linenum, args[0]);
+			err_code |= ERR_ALERT | ERR_FATAL;
+			goto out;
+		}
 	}
 	else if (!strcmp(args[0], "tune.comp.maxlevel")) {
 		if (alertif_too_many_args(1, file, linenum, args, &err_code))