diff --git a/src/conky.cc b/src/conky.cc
index ebbf84a6..9177c898 100644
--- a/src/conky.cc
+++ b/src/conky.cc
@@ -620,7 +620,7 @@ void human_readable(long long num, char *buf, int size)
 		spaced_print(buf, size, "%d", 6, round_to_int(num));
 		return;
 	}
-	if (short_units) {
+	if (short_units || llabs(num) < 1000LL) {
 		width = 5;
 		format = "%.*f%.1s";
 	} else {