diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index af83228..1ff6263 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 export RELAYS=wss://offchain.pub,wss://nostr.bitcoiner.social
 # 0 = run probes on each /metrics scrape; set >0 for periodic background probing.
-# Example: 300000 = every 5 minutes.
-export PROBE_INTERVAL_MS=300000
-export PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS=10000
+# Example: 300 = every 5 minutes.
+export PROBE_INTERVAL_SECONDS=300
+export PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=10
 export LISTEN_ADDR=0.0.0.0
 export PORT=9464
 export LOG_LEVEL=info
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 28bdc93..87b4878 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -36,14 +36,14 @@ cp .env.example .env
 Example: run probes every 5 minutes instead of on each scrape:
 
 ```bash
-export PROBE_INTERVAL_MS=300000
+export PROBE_INTERVAL_SECONDS=300
 ```
 
 Environment variables:
 
 - `RELAYS` (required): comma-separated `wss://` URLs
-- `PROBE_INTERVAL_MS` (default: `0`; `0` means run probes on each `/metrics` scrape)
-- `PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS` (default: `10000`)
+- `PROBE_INTERVAL_SECONDS` (default: `0`; `0` means run probes on each `/metrics` scrape)
+- `PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS` (default: `10`)
 - `LISTEN_ADDR` (default: `0.0.0.0`)
 - `PORT` (default: `9464`)
 - `LOG_LEVEL` (default: `info`; one of `debug|info|warn|error`)
diff --git a/src/config.ts b/src/config.ts
index 3c76fdd..6c57c7f 100644
--- a/src/config.ts
+++ b/src/config.ts
@@ -27,15 +27,16 @@ export interface AppConfig {
   warnings: string[];
 }
 
-const DEFAULT_PROBE_INTERVAL_MS = 0;
-const DEFAULT_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS = 10_000;
+const MS_PER_SECOND = 1_000;
+const DEFAULT_PROBE_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 0;
+const DEFAULT_PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 10;
 const DEFAULT_LISTEN_ADDR = "0.0.0.0";
 const DEFAULT_PORT = 9464;
 const DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL: LogLevel = "info";
 const DEFAULT_WRITE_CHECK_ENABLED = true;
 const DEFAULT_WRITE_CHECK_KIND = 30078;
 
-const MIN_TIMEOUT_MS = 1_000;
+const MIN_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 1;
 const MIN_PORT = 1;
 const MAX_PORT = 65_535;
 
@@ -149,18 +150,20 @@ export function loadConfig(env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv = process.env): AppConfig {
     throw new Error("RELAYS did not contain any valid wss:// relay URLs");
   }
 
-  const probeIntervalMs = parseInteger(
-    env.PROBE_INTERVAL_MS,
-    DEFAULT_PROBE_INTERVAL_MS,
+  const probeIntervalSeconds = parseInteger(
+    env.PROBE_INTERVAL_SECONDS,
+    DEFAULT_PROBE_INTERVAL_SECONDS,
     0,
-    "PROBE_INTERVAL_MS",
+    "PROBE_INTERVAL_SECONDS",
   );
-  const probeTimeoutMs = parseInteger(
-    env.PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS,
-    DEFAULT_PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS,
-    MIN_TIMEOUT_MS,
-    "PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS",
+  const probeTimeoutSeconds = parseInteger(
+    env.PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS,
+    DEFAULT_PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS,
+    MIN_TIMEOUT_SECONDS,
+    "PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS",
   );
+  const probeIntervalMs = probeIntervalSeconds * MS_PER_SECOND;
+  const probeTimeoutMs = probeTimeoutSeconds * MS_PER_SECOND;
   const port = parseInteger(env.PORT, DEFAULT_PORT, MIN_PORT, "PORT");
   if (port > MAX_PORT) {
     throw new Error(`PORT must be <= ${MAX_PORT}`);
diff --git a/test/smoke.test.ts b/test/smoke.test.ts
index c30aa7c..eadf8b5 100644
--- a/test/smoke.test.ts
+++ b/test/smoke.test.ts
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@ test("exporter serves healthz and metrics without crashing", async (t) => {
         ...process.env,
         RELAYS: "wss://relay.damus.io,wss://nos.lol",
         WRITE_CHECK_ENABLED: "false",
-        PROBE_TIMEOUT_MS: "2000",
-        PROBE_INTERVAL_MS: "3000",
+        PROBE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS: "2",
+        PROBE_INTERVAL_SECONDS: "3",
         PORT: String(port),
         LOG_LEVEL: "error",
       },