diff --git a/doc/configuration.txt b/doc/configuration.txt
index 1f53e9bd6..70a1a81f9 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.txt
+++ b/doc/configuration.txt
@@ -4612,7 +4612,8 @@ tune.maxpollevents <number>
   the polling system. The default value is adapted to the operating system. It
   has been noticed that reducing it below 200 tends to slightly decrease
   latency at the expense of network bandwidth, and increasing it above 200
-  tends to trade latency for slightly increased bandwidth.
+  tends to trade latency for slightly increased bandwidth. The configured value
+  must be lower than or equal to 1000000.
 
 tune.maxrewrite <number>
   Sets the reserved buffer space to this size in bytes. The reserved space is
diff --git a/src/cfgparse-global.c b/src/cfgparse-global.c
index 28442c1b0..2317cc5dd 100644
--- a/src/cfgparse-global.c
+++ b/src/cfgparse-global.c
@@ -1134,6 +1134,8 @@ static int cfg_parse_global_tune_opts(char **args, int section_type,
 
 	}
 	else if (strcmp(args[0], "tune.maxpollevents") == 0) {
+		long max;
+
 		if (global.tune.maxpollevents != 0) {
 			memprintf(err, "'%s' already specified. Continuing.", args[0]);
 			return 1;
@@ -1142,8 +1144,12 @@ static int cfg_parse_global_tune_opts(char **args, int section_type,
 			memprintf(err, "'%s' expects an integer argument.", args[0]);
 			return -1;
 		}
-		global.tune.maxpollevents = atol(args[1]);
-
+		max = atol(args[1]);
+		if (max > 1000000) {
+			memprintf(err, "'%s' expects an integer value lower than or equal to 1000000.", args[0]);
+			return -1;
+		}
+		global.tune.maxpollevents = max;
 		return 0;
 	}
 	else if (strcmp(args[0], "tune.max-rules-at-once") == 0) {