diff --git a/man/oomd.conf.xml b/man/oomd.conf.xml
index 6156c98fbd..0ae7e109b1 100644
--- a/man/oomd.conf.xml
+++ b/man/oomd.conf.xml
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
         <listitem><para>Sets the amount of time a unit's control group needs to have exceeded memory pressure
         limits before <command>systemd-oomd</command> will take action. Memory pressure limits are defined by
         <varname>DefaultMemoryPressureLimit=</varname> and <varname>ManagedOOMMemoryPressureLimit=</varname>.
-        Defaults to 30 seconds when this property is unset or set to 0.</para></listitem>
+        Must be set to 0, or at least 1 second. Defaults to 30 seconds when unset or 0.</para></listitem>
       </varlistentry>
 
     </variablelist>
diff --git a/src/oom/oomd.c b/src/oom/oomd.c
index 6e2a5889d1..deb7b094d5 100644
--- a/src/oom/oomd.c
+++ b/src/oom/oomd.c
@@ -155,6 +155,9 @@ static int run(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
         assert_se(sigprocmask_many(SIG_BLOCK, NULL, SIGTERM, SIGINT, -1) >= 0);
 
+        if (arg_mem_pressure_usec > 0 && arg_mem_pressure_usec < 1 * USEC_PER_SEC)
+                log_error_errno(SYNTHETIC_ERRNO(EINVAL), "DefaultMemoryPressureDurationSec= must be 0 or at least 1s");
+
         r = manager_new(&m);
         if (r < 0)
                 return log_error_errno(r, "Failed to create manager: %m");