diff --git a/SPECIFICATION b/SPECIFICATION
index 661b0ad..513f937 100644
--- a/SPECIFICATION
+++ b/SPECIFICATION
@@ -246,7 +246,9 @@ The following messages must be supported by all implementations.
   code. This code will be reported back to the client if the action
   is invoked by the user.
 
-  UINT32/NIL expire time: if nil the notification never times out  
+  UINT32/NIL expire time: if nil the notification never times out.
+  If non-nil, a UNIX time_t (since the epoch) at which point the notification
+  will be automatically closed. If zero, use the default server timeout.
   
   It returns a UINT32 that will never be reused within a
   session unless more than MAXINT notifications have been generated
diff --git a/tools/notify-send.c b/tools/notify-send.c
index bafb12d..f1f11ce 100644
--- a/tools/notify-send.c
+++ b/tools/notify-send.c
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	gchar *icon_str = NULL;
 	NotifyIcon *icon = NULL;
 	NotifyUrgency urgency = NOTIFY_URGENCY_NORMAL;
-	time_t expire_time;
+	time_t expire_time = 0;
 	char ch;
 	poptContext opt_ctx;
 	const char **args;
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ main(int argc, const char **argv)
 	}
 
     /* if the given time is < current time, treat it as a timeout in seconds (ie 5 seconds) */
-    if (expire_time < time(NULL)) expire_time += time(NULL);
-        
+	if (expire_time && expire_time < time(NULL)) expire_time += time(NULL);
+	
 	notify_send_notification(0, urgency, summary, description, icon,
 							 TRUE, expire_time, NULL, 0);