diff --git a/src/timefns.c b/src/timefns.c
index ba1ba10a809..45a0930f8a8 100644
--- a/src/timefns.c
+++ b/src/timefns.c
@@ -895,7 +895,7 @@ decode_time_components (enum timeform form,
 
     case TIMEFORM_TICKS_HZ:
       if (! (INTEGERP (high)
-	     && !NILP (Fnatnump (low)) && !BASE_EQ (low, make_fixnum (0))))
+	     && (FIXNUMP (low) ? 0 < XFIXNUM (low) : !NILP (Fnatnump (low)))))
 	return (struct err_time) { .err = EINVAL };
       ticks = high;
       hz = low;