diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index d1215a97d..2b9e6c50f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "prost-types 0.3.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "quickcheck 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "rand 0.4.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
- "regex 0.2.10 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "regex 1.0.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "tokio-connect 0.1.0 (git+https://github.com/carllerche/tokio-connect)",
  "tokio-core 0.1.12 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "tokio-io 0.1.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
@@ -767,19 +767,19 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "regex"
-version = "0.2.10"
+version = "1.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 dependencies = [
  "aho-corasick 0.6.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "memchr 2.0.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
- "regex-syntax 0.5.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "regex-syntax 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "thread_local 0.3.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "utf8-ranges 1.0.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "regex-syntax"
-version = "0.5.5"
+version = "0.6.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 dependencies = [
  "ucd-util 0.1.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
@@ -1317,8 +1317,8 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum rand 0.4.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "eba5f8cb59cc50ed56be8880a5c7b496bfd9bd26394e176bc67884094145c2c5"
 "checksum redox_syscall 0.1.37 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "0d92eecebad22b767915e4d529f89f28ee96dbbf5a4810d2b844373f136417fd"
 "checksum redox_termios 0.1.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "7e891cfe48e9100a70a3b6eb652fef28920c117d366339687bd5576160db0f76"
-"checksum regex 0.2.10 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "aec3f58d903a7d2a9dc2bf0e41a746f4530e0cab6b615494e058f67a3ef947fb"
-"checksum regex-syntax 0.5.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "bd90079345f4a4c3409214734ae220fd773c6f2e8a543d07370c6c1c369cfbfb"
+"checksum regex 1.0.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "75ecf88252dce580404a22444fc7d626c01815debba56a7f4f536772a5ff19d3"
+"checksum regex-syntax 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "8f1ac0f60d675cc6cf13a20ec076568254472551051ad5dd050364d70671bf6b"
 "checksum relay 0.1.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "f301bafeb60867c85170031bdb2fcf24c8041f33aee09e7b116a58d4e9f781c5"
 "checksum remove_dir_all 0.5.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "dfc5b3ce5d5ea144bb04ebd093a9e14e9765bcfec866aecda9b6dec43b3d1e24"
 "checksum resolv-conf 0.6.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "8e1b086bb6a2659d6ba66e4aa21bde8a53ec03587cd5c80b83bdc3a330f35cab"
diff --git a/proxy/Cargo.toml b/proxy/Cargo.toml
index c32cc9a17..9573f6846 100644
--- a/proxy/Cargo.toml
+++ b/proxy/Cargo.toml
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ log = "0.4.1"
 indexmap = "1.0.0"
 rand = "0.4"
 
+# for config parsing
+regex = "1.0.0"
+
 tokio-core = "0.1"
 tokio-io = "0.1"
 tokio-signal = "0.1"
@@ -57,5 +60,4 @@ libc = "0.2"
 [dev-dependencies]
 quickcheck = { version = "0.6", default-features = false }
 conduit-proxy-controller-grpc = { path = "./controller-grpc" , features = ["arbitrary"] }
-regex = "0.2"
 flate2 = { version = "1.0.1", default-features = false, features = ["rust_backend"] }
diff --git a/proxy/src/config.rs b/proxy/src/config.rs
index 97d6f8c8f..e46c0d733 100644
--- a/proxy/src/config.rs
+++ b/proxy/src/config.rs
@@ -86,16 +86,17 @@ pub enum Error {
     InvalidEnvVar
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub enum ParseError {
     EnvironmentUnsupported,
+    NotADuration,
     NotANumber,
     HostIsNotAnIpAddress,
     NotUnicode,
     UrlError(UrlError),
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug)]
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub enum UrlError {
     /// The URl is syntactically invalid according to general URL parsing rules.
     SyntaxError,
@@ -195,16 +196,16 @@ impl<'a> TryFrom<&'a Strings> for Config {
         let control_listener_addr = parse(strings, ENV_CONTROL_LISTENER, str::parse);
         let metrics_listener_addr = parse(strings, ENV_METRICS_LISTENER, str::parse);
         let private_forward = parse(strings, ENV_PRIVATE_FORWARD, str::parse);
-        let public_connect_timeout = parse(strings, ENV_PUBLIC_CONNECT_TIMEOUT, parse_number);
-        let private_connect_timeout = parse(strings, ENV_PRIVATE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT, parse_number);
+        let public_connect_timeout = parse(strings, ENV_PUBLIC_CONNECT_TIMEOUT, parse_duration);
+        let private_connect_timeout = parse(strings, ENV_PRIVATE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT, parse_duration);
         let inbound_disable_ports = parse(strings, ENV_INBOUND_PORTS_DISABLE_PROTOCOL_DETECTION, parse_port_set);
         let outbound_disable_ports = parse(strings, ENV_OUTBOUND_PORTS_DISABLE_PROTOCOL_DETECTION, parse_port_set);
         let inbound_router_capacity = parse(strings, ENV_INBOUND_ROUTER_CAPACITY, parse_number);
         let outbound_router_capacity = parse(strings, ENV_OUTBOUND_ROUTER_CAPACITY, parse_number);
-        let bind_timeout = parse(strings, ENV_BIND_TIMEOUT, parse_number);
+        let bind_timeout = parse(strings, ENV_BIND_TIMEOUT, parse_duration);
         let resolv_conf_path = strings.get(ENV_RESOLV_CONF);
         let event_buffer_capacity = parse(strings, ENV_EVENT_BUFFER_CAPACITY, parse_number);
-        let metrics_retain_idle = parse(strings, ENV_METRICS_RETAIN_IDLE, parse_number);
+        let metrics_retain_idle = parse(strings, ENV_METRICS_RETAIN_IDLE, parse_duration);
         let pod_namespace = strings.get(ENV_POD_NAMESPACE).and_then(|maybe_value| {
             // There cannot be a default pod namespace, and the pod namespace is required.
             maybe_value.ok_or_else(|| {
@@ -243,9 +244,9 @@ impl<'a> TryFrom<&'a Strings> for Config {
             },
             private_forward: private_forward?,
 
-            public_connect_timeout: public_connect_timeout?.map(Duration::from_millis)
+            public_connect_timeout: public_connect_timeout?
                 .unwrap_or(DEFAULT_PUBLIC_CONNECT_TIMEOUT),
-            private_connect_timeout: private_connect_timeout?.map(Duration::from_millis)
+            private_connect_timeout: private_connect_timeout?
                 .unwrap_or(DEFAULT_PRIVATE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT),
 
             inbound_ports_disable_protocol_detection: inbound_disable_ports?
@@ -264,11 +265,9 @@ impl<'a> TryFrom<&'a Strings> for Config {
             control_host_and_port: control_host_and_port?,
 
             event_buffer_capacity: event_buffer_capacity?.unwrap_or(DEFAULT_EVENT_BUFFER_CAPACITY),
-            metrics_retain_idle: metrics_retain_idle?.map(Duration::from_secs)
-                .unwrap_or(DEFAULT_METRICS_RETAIN_IDLE),
+            metrics_retain_idle: metrics_retain_idle?.unwrap_or(DEFAULT_METRICS_RETAIN_IDLE),
 
-            bind_timeout: bind_timeout?.map(Duration::from_millis)
-                .unwrap_or(DEFAULT_BIND_TIMEOUT),
+            bind_timeout: bind_timeout?.unwrap_or(DEFAULT_BIND_TIMEOUT),
 
             pod_namespace: pod_namespace?,
         })
@@ -340,6 +339,27 @@ fn parse_number<T>(s: &str) -> Result<T, ParseError> where T: FromStr {
     s.parse().map_err(|_| ParseError::NotANumber)
 }
 
+fn parse_duration(s: &str) -> Result<Duration, ParseError> {
+    use regex::Regex;
+
+    let re = Regex::new(r"^\s*(\d+)(ms|s|m|h|d)?\s*$")
+        .expect("duration regex");
+
+    let cap = re.captures(s)
+        .ok_or(ParseError::NotADuration)?;
+
+    let magnitude = parse_number(&cap[1])?;
+    match cap.get(2).map(|m| m.as_str()) {
+        None if magnitude == 0 => Ok(Duration::from_secs(0)),
+        Some("ms") => Ok(Duration::from_millis(magnitude)),
+        Some("s") => Ok(Duration::from_secs(magnitude)),
+        Some("m") => Ok(Duration::from_secs(magnitude * 60)),
+        Some("h") => Ok(Duration::from_secs(magnitude * 60 * 60)),
+        Some("d") => Ok(Duration::from_secs(magnitude * 60 * 60 * 24)),
+        _ => Err(ParseError::NotADuration),
+    }
+}
+
 fn parse_url(s: &str) -> Result<HostAndPort, ParseError> {
     let url = s.parse::<http::Uri>().map_err(|_| ParseError::UrlError(UrlError::SyntaxError))?;
     if url.scheme_part().map(|s| s.as_str()) != Some("tcp") {
@@ -380,3 +400,76 @@ fn parse<T, Parse>(strings: &Strings, name: &str, parse: Parse) -> Result<Option
         None => Ok(None),
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    fn test_unit<F: Fn(u64) -> Duration>(unit: &str, to_duration: F) {
+        for v in &[0, 1, 23, 456_789] {
+            let d = to_duration(*v);
+            let text = format!("{}{}", v, unit);
+            assert_eq!(parse_duration(&text), Ok(d), "text=\"{}\"", text);
+
+            let text = format!(" {}{}\t", v, unit);
+            assert_eq!(parse_duration(&text), Ok(d), "text=\"{}\"", text);
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_unit_ms() {
+        test_unit("ms", |v| Duration::from_millis(v));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_unit_s() {
+        test_unit("s", |v| Duration::from_secs(v));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_unit_m() {
+        test_unit("m", |v| Duration::from_secs(v * 60));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_unit_h() {
+        test_unit("h", |v| Duration::from_secs(v * 60 * 60));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_unit_d() {
+        test_unit("d", |v| Duration::from_secs(v * 60 * 60 * 24));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_floats_invalid() {
+        assert_eq!(parse_duration(".123h"), Err(ParseError::NotADuration));
+        assert_eq!(parse_duration("1.23h"), Err(ParseError::NotADuration));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_space_before_unit_invalid() {
+        assert_eq!(parse_duration("1 ms"), Err(ParseError::NotADuration));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_overflows_invalid() {
+        assert_eq!(parse_duration("123456789012345678901234567890ms"), Err(ParseError::NotANumber));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_invalid_unit() {
+        assert_eq!(parse_duration("12moons"), Err(ParseError::NotADuration));
+        assert_eq!(parse_duration("12y"), Err(ParseError::NotADuration));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_zero_without_unit() {
+        assert_eq!(parse_duration("0"), Ok(Duration::from_secs(0)));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_duration_number_without_unit_is_invalid() {
+        assert_eq!(parse_duration("1"), Err(ParseError::NotADuration));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/proxy/src/lib.rs b/proxy/src/lib.rs
index 5dfae3c1e..6b88e1c5c 100644
--- a/proxy/src/lib.rs
+++ b/proxy/src/lib.rs
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ extern crate prost_types;
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate quickcheck;
 extern crate rand;
+extern crate regex;
 extern crate tokio_connect;
 extern crate tokio_core;
 extern crate tokio_io;
diff --git a/proxy/src/transport/connect.rs b/proxy/src/transport/connect.rs
index d82981d14..b044ec535 100644
--- a/proxy/src/transport/connect.rs
+++ b/proxy/src/transport/connect.rs
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ pub enum Host {
     Ip(IpAddr),
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug)]
+#[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub enum HostAndPortError {
     /// The host is not a valid DNS name or IP address.
     InvalidHost,
diff --git a/proxy/tests/discovery.rs b/proxy/tests/discovery.rs
index c446d15a0..ab2e4c0c6 100644
--- a/proxy/tests/discovery.rs
+++ b/proxy/tests/discovery.rs
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ macro_rules! generate_tests {
             let mut env = config::TestEnv::new();
 
             // set the bind timeout to 100 ms.
-            env.put(config::ENV_BIND_TIMEOUT, "100".to_owned());
+            env.put(config::ENV_BIND_TIMEOUT, "100ms".to_owned());
 
             let srv = $make_server().route("/", "hello").run();
             let ctrl = controller::new();
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ macro_rules! generate_tests {
             let mut env = config::TestEnv::new();
 
             // set the bind timeout to 100 ms.
-            env.put(config::ENV_BIND_TIMEOUT, "100".to_owned());
+            env.put(config::ENV_BIND_TIMEOUT, "100ms".to_owned());
 
             let srv = $make_server().route("/hi", "hello").run();
             let ctrl = controller::new();