diff --git a/eve_orehold_watcher.py b/eve_orehold_watcher.py
index 879aa20..5bcf0a7 100644
--- a/eve_orehold_watcher.py
+++ b/eve_orehold_watcher.py
@@ -68,7 +68,9 @@ def load_config():
     if not os.path.exists(CONFIG_PATH):
         sys.exit(f"No config.ini found. Copy config.ini.example -> config.ini "
                  f"and edit it.\n(looked in {CONFIG_PATH})")
-    cp = configparser.ConfigParser()
+    # inline_comment_prefixes: strip ' ; comment' after values, else getint() crashes
+    # on lines like "poll_secs = 10  ; how often" (config.ini.example has these).
+    cp = configparser.ConfigParser(inline_comment_prefixes=(";",))
     cp.read(CONFIG_PATH, encoding="utf-8-sig")   # tolerate a UTF-8 BOM
     return cp