diff --git a/actions/urlsettings.php b/actions/urlsettings.php
index 02a895955d..837d4df1d0 100644
--- a/actions/urlsettings.php
+++ b/actions/urlsettings.php
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ class UrlsettingsAction extends SettingsAction
                      (!is_null($this->arg('maxnoticelength'))) ?
                      $this->arg('maxnoticelength') : User_urlshortener_prefs::maxNoticeLength($user),
                      // TRANS: Field title in URL settings in profile.
-                     _('URLs in notices longer than this will be shortened, 0 means always shorten.'));
+                     _('URLs in notices longer than this will always be shortened, -1 means shorten only if notice text exceeds maximum length.'));
         $this->elementEnd('li');
         $this->elementEnd('ul');
         // TRANS: Button text for saving "Other settings" in profile.
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ class UrlsettingsAction extends SettingsAction
 
         $maxnoticelength = $this->trimmed('maxnoticelength');
 
-        if (!Validate::number($maxnoticelength, array('min' => 0))) {
+        if (!Validate::number($maxnoticelength, array('min' => -1))) {
             // TRANS: Client exception thrown when the maximum notice length settings value is invalid in profile URL settings.
             throw new ClientException(_('Invalid number for maximum notice length.'));
         }
diff --git a/classes/User_urlshortener_prefs.php b/classes/User_urlshortener_prefs.php
index 9cb5a4cb0e..146c8b8087 100755
--- a/classes/User_urlshortener_prefs.php
+++ b/classes/User_urlshortener_prefs.php
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class User_urlshortener_prefs extends Managed_DataObject
                 'user_id' => array('type' => 'int', 'not null' => true, 'description' => 'user'),
                 'urlshorteningservice' => array('type' => 'varchar', 'length' => 50, 'default' => 'internal', 'description' => 'service to use for auto-shortening URLs'),
                 'maxurllength' => array('type' => 'int', 'not null' => true, 'description' => 'urls greater than this length will be shortened, 0 = always, null = never'),
-                'maxnoticelength' => array('type' => 'int', 'not null' => true, 'description' => 'notices with content greater than this value will have all urls shortened, 0 = always, null = never'),
+                'maxnoticelength' => array('type' => 'int', 'not null' => true, 'description' => 'notices with content greater than this value will have all urls shortened, 0 = always, -1 = only if notice text is longer than max allowed'),
         
                 'created' => array('type' => 'datetime', 'not null' => true, 'description' => 'date this record was created'),
                 'modified' => array('type' => 'timestamp', 'not null' => true, 'description' => 'date this record was modified'),
@@ -74,7 +74,12 @@ class User_urlshortener_prefs extends Managed_DataObject
         $def = common_config('url', 'maxnoticelength');
 
         if ($def == -1) {
-            $def = Notice::maxContent();
+            /*
+             * maxContent==0 means infinite length,
+             * but maxNoticeLength==0 means "always shorten"
+             * so if maxContent==0 we must set this to -1
+             */
+            $def = Notice::maxContent() ?: -1;
         }
 
         $prefs = self::getPrefs($user);
diff --git a/lib/util.php b/lib/util.php
index 52de9ccef9..2e9ba29ff3 100644
--- a/lib/util.php
+++ b/lib/util.php
@@ -1046,7 +1046,7 @@ function common_shorten_links($text, $always = false, User $user=null)
 
     $maxLength = User_urlshortener_prefs::maxNoticeLength($user);
 
-    if ($always || mb_strlen($text) > $maxLength) {
+    if ($always || ($maxLength != -1 && mb_strlen($text) > $maxLength)) {
         return common_replace_urls_callback($text, array('File_redirection', 'forceShort'), $user);
     } else {
         return common_replace_urls_callback($text, array('File_redirection', 'makeShort'), $user);