diff --git a/server/configs/test.conf b/server/configs/test.conf
index e877aeb5..85e4f60c 100644
--- a/server/configs/test.conf
+++ b/server/configs/test.conf
@@ -39,4 +39,4 @@ ping_interval: 60
 ping_max: 3
 
 # how long server can block on a socket write to a client
-write_deadline: 3
+write_deadline: "3s"
diff --git a/server/opts.go b/server/opts.go
index 39d74fab..683d440f 100644
--- a/server/opts.go
+++ b/server/opts.go
@@ -230,7 +230,19 @@ func ProcessConfigFile(configFile string) (*Options, error) {
 			}
 			opts.TLSTimeout = tc.Timeout
 		case "write_deadline":
-			opts.WriteDeadline = time.Duration(v.(int64)) * time.Second
+			wd, ok := v.(string)
+			if ok {
+				dur, err := time.ParseDuration(wd)
+				if err != nil {
+					return nil, fmt.Errorf("error parsing write_deadline: %v", err)
+				}
+				opts.WriteDeadline = dur
+			} else {
+				// Backward compatible with old type, assume this is the
+				// number of seconds.
+				opts.WriteDeadline = time.Duration(v.(int64)) * time.Second
+				fmt.Printf("WARNING: write_deadline should be converted to a duration\n")
+			}
 		}
 	}
 	return opts, nil
diff --git a/server/opts_test.go b/server/opts_test.go
index 979eb244..ee353abd 100644
--- a/server/opts_test.go
+++ b/server/opts_test.go
@@ -651,3 +651,40 @@ func TestTokenWithUsers(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("Expected error related to token, got %v", err)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestParseWriteDeadline(t *testing.T) {
+	confFile := "test.conf"
+	defer os.Remove(confFile)
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(confFile, []byte("write_deadline: \"1x\"\n"), 0666); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error writing config file: %v", err)
+	}
+	_, err := ProcessConfigFile(confFile)
+	if err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Expected error, got none")
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(err.Error(), "parsing") {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected error related to parsing, got %v", err)
+	}
+	os.Remove(confFile)
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(confFile, []byte("write_deadline: \"1s\"\n"), 0666); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error writing config file: %v", err)
+	}
+	opts, err := ProcessConfigFile(confFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if opts.WriteDeadline != time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected write_deadline to be 1s, got %v", opts.WriteDeadline)
+	}
+	os.Remove(confFile)
+	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(confFile, []byte("write_deadline: 2\n"), 0666); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Error writing config file: %v", err)
+	}
+	opts, err = ProcessConfigFile(confFile)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unexpected error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if opts.WriteDeadline != 2*time.Second {
+		t.Fatalf("Expected write_deadline to be 2s, got %v", opts.WriteDeadline)
+	}
+}