diff --git a/src/common/read_config.c b/src/common/read_config.c
index 02509c3bf27ab64109a1202d24f062408df239ca..a521223ecd08a8a0587a1dd395331a4b6b926bde 100644
--- a/src/common/read_config.c
+++ b/src/common/read_config.c
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ init_slurm_conf (slurm_ctl_conf_t *ctl_conf_ptr)
 	ctl_conf_ptr->inactive_limit		= (uint16_t) NO_VAL;
 	xfree (ctl_conf_ptr->job_credential_private_key);
 	xfree (ctl_conf_ptr->job_credential_public_certificate);
-	ctl_conf_ptr->kill_wait			= (uint16_t) 30;
+	ctl_conf_ptr->kill_wait			= (uint16_t) NO_VAL;
 	xfree (ctl_conf_ptr->plugindir);
 	xfree (ctl_conf_ptr->prioritize);
 	xfree (ctl_conf_ptr->prolog);
@@ -745,6 +745,9 @@ validate_config (slurm_ctl_conf_t *ctl_conf_ptr)
 
 	if (ctl_conf_ptr->slurmd_debug != (uint16_t) NO_VAL)
 		_normalize_debug_level(&ctl_conf_ptr->slurmd_debug);
+
+	if (ctl_conf_ptr->kill_wait == (uint16_t) NO_VAL)
+		ctl_conf_ptr->kill_wait = 30;
 }
 
 /* Normalize supplied debug level to be in range per log.h definitions */