diff --git a/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c b/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
index ed5eb97b5..7c43538d7 100644
--- a/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
+++ b/lib/iscsi/iscsi_subsystem.c
@@ -545,6 +545,7 @@ spdk_iscsi_app_read_parameters(void)
 	int AllowDuplicateIsid;
 	int min_conn_per_core = 0;
 	int conn_idle_interval = 0;
+	unsigned long flush_timeout = 0;
 
 	/* Process parameters */
 	SPDK_TRACELOG(SPDK_TRACE_DEBUG, "spdk_iscsi_app_read_parameters\n");
@@ -800,11 +801,13 @@ spdk_iscsi_app_read_parameters(void)
 		      g_spdk_iscsi.timeout);
 
 	val = spdk_conf_section_get_val(sp, "FlushTimeout");
-	if (val == NULL) {
-		g_spdk_iscsi.flush_timeout = DEFAULT_FLUSH_TIMEOUT * (spdk_get_ticks_hz() >> 20);
-	} else {
-		g_spdk_iscsi.flush_timeout = strtoul(val, NULL, 10) * (spdk_get_ticks_hz() >> 20);
+	if (val) {
+		flush_timeout = strtoul(val, NULL, 10);
 	}
+	if (flush_timeout == 0) {
+		flush_timeout = DEFAULT_FLUSH_TIMEOUT;
+	}
+	g_spdk_iscsi.flush_timeout = flush_timeout * (spdk_get_ticks_hz() >> 20);
 	SPDK_TRACELOG(SPDK_TRACE_DEBUG, "FlushTimeout %"PRIu64"\n", g_spdk_iscsi.flush_timeout);
 
 	nopininterval = spdk_conf_section_get_intval(sp, "NopInInterval");