diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index c5e01009c..8ed7441b5 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -898,9 +898,12 @@ AC_HELP_STRING([--with-nicklen=LENGTH],[Set the upper-bound nick length to LENGT
   if ! expr "$withval" + 0 >/dev/null 2>&1; then 
 	AC_ERROR([NICKLEN must be a numeric value])
   fi 
-  if test $withval -ge 50; then
+  if test $withval -gt 50; then
 	NICKLEN=50
 	AC_MSG_WARN([NICKLEN has a hard limit of 50. Setting NICKLEN=50])
+  elif test $withval -lt 9; then
+	NICKLEN=9
+	AC_MSG_WARN([NICKLEN has a lower limit of 9. Setting NICKLEN=9])
   else
 	NICKLEN="$withval"
   fi
diff --git a/src/newconf.c b/src/newconf.c
index eac863c0a..8447201ed 100644
--- a/src/newconf.c
+++ b/src/newconf.c
@@ -268,9 +268,15 @@ conf_set_serverinfo_nicklen(void *data)
 	if (ConfigFileEntry.nicklen > NICKLEN)
 	{
 		conf_report_error("Warning -- ignoring serverinfo::nicklen -- provided nicklen (%u) is greater than allowed nicklen (%u)",
-				  ConfigFileEntry.nicklen, NICKLEN);
+				  ConfigFileEntry.nicklen - 1, NICKLEN - 1);
 		ConfigFileEntry.nicklen = NICKLEN;
 	}
+	else if (ConfigFileEntry.nicklen < 9 + 1)
+	{
+		conf_report_error("Warning -- serverinfo::nicklen is too low (%u) -- forcing 9",
+				  ConfigFileEntry.nicklen);
+		ConfigFileEntry.nicklen = 9 + 1;
+	}
 }
 
 static void