diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 0599a07..e307d19 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -705,6 +705,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "pbr 1.0.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "prettytable-rs 0.8.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "qr2term 0.1.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "regex 1.3.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "rpassword 4.0.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "serde 1.0.101 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "serde_derive 1.0.101 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 54cf019..fd62f2b 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ pathdiff = "0.1"
 pbr = "1"
 prettytable-rs = "0.8"
 qr2term = { version = "0.1", optional = true }
+regex = "1.3.1"
 rpassword = "4.0"
 serde = "1.0"
 serde_derive = "1.0"
diff --git a/src/cmd/arg/expiry_time.rs b/src/cmd/arg/expiry_time.rs
index b22e05a..f6bb538 100644
--- a/src/cmd/arg/expiry_time.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/arg/expiry_time.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
+use chrono::Duration;
 use clap::{Arg, ArgMatches};
+use failure::Fail;
 use ffsend_api::api::Version as ApiVersion;
 use ffsend_api::config::expiry_max;
 
 use super::{CmdArg, CmdArgFlag, CmdArgOption};
 use crate::cmd::matcher::MainMatcher;
-use crate::util::{highlight, prompt_yes, quit};
+use crate::util::{
+    format_duration, highlight, parse_duration, prompt_yes, quit, quit_error, ErrorHints,
+};
 
 /// The download limit argument.
 pub struct ArgExpiryTime {}
@@ -25,10 +29,13 @@ impl ArgExpiryTime {
             return Some(expiry);
         }
 
+        // Define function to format seconds
+        let format_secs = |secs: usize| format_duration(Duration::seconds(secs as i64));
+
         // Prompt the user the specified expiry time is invalid
         let allowed_str = allowed
             .iter()
-            .map(|value| format!("{}", value))
+            .map(|secs| format_secs(*secs))
             .collect::<Vec<_>>()
             .join(", ");
         eprintln!("The expiry time must be one of: {}", allowed_str);
@@ -44,7 +51,10 @@ impl ArgExpiryTime {
         // Ask to use closest limit, quit if user cancelled
         let closest = closest(allowed, expiry);
         if !prompt_yes(
-            &format!("Would you like to set expiry time to {} instead?", closest),
+            &format!(
+                "Would you like to set expiry time to {} instead?",
+                format_secs(closest)
+            ),
             None,
             main_matcher,
         ) {
@@ -78,8 +88,13 @@ impl<'a> CmdArgOption<'a> for ArgExpiryTime {
     type Value = Option<usize>;
 
     fn value<'b: 'a>(matches: &'a ArgMatches<'b>) -> Self::Value {
-        // TODO: do not unwrap, report an error
-        Self::value_raw(matches).map(|d| d.parse::<usize>().expect("invalid expiry time"))
+        Self::value_raw(matches).map(|t| match parse_duration(t) {
+            Ok(seconds) => seconds,
+            Err(err) => quit_error(
+                err.context("specified invalid file expiry time"),
+                ErrorHints::default(),
+            ),
+        })
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/util.rs b/src/util.rs
index 67176be..aedc3e9 100644
--- a/src/util.rs
+++ b/src/util.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ extern crate colored;
 extern crate directories;
 extern crate fs2;
 extern crate open;
+extern crate regex;
 #[cfg(feature = "clipboard-bin")]
 extern crate which;
 
@@ -38,6 +39,7 @@ use ffsend_api::{
     reqwest,
     url::Url,
 };
+use regex::Regex;
 use rpassword::prompt_password_stderr;
 #[cfg(feature = "clipboard-bin")]
 use which::which;
@@ -824,6 +826,69 @@ pub fn format_bytes(bytes: u64) -> String {
     }
 }
 
+/// Parse the given duration string from human readable format into seconds.
+/// This method parses a string of time components to represent the given duration.
+///
+/// The following time units are used:
+/// - `w`: weeks
+/// - `d`: days
+/// - `h`: hours
+/// - `m`: minutes
+/// - `s`: seconds
+/// The following time strings can be parsed:
+/// - `8w6d`
+/// - `23h14m`
+/// - `9m55s`
+/// - `1s1s1s1s1s`
+pub fn parse_duration(duration: &str) -> Result<usize, ParseDurationError> {
+    // Build a regex to grab time parts
+    let re = Regex::new(r"(?i)([0-9]+)(([a-z]|\s*$))")
+        .expect("failed to compile duration parsing regex");
+
+    // We must find any match
+    if re.find(duration).is_none() {
+        return Err(ParseDurationError::Empty);
+    }
+
+    // Parse each time part, sum it's seconds
+    let mut seconds = 0;
+    for capture in re.captures_iter(duration) {
+        // Parse time value and modifier
+        let number = capture[1]
+            .parse::<usize>()
+            .map_err(ParseDurationError::InvalidValue)?;
+        let modifier = capture[2].trim().to_lowercase();
+
+        // Multiply and sum seconds by modifier
+        seconds += match modifier.as_str() {
+            "" | "s" => number,
+            "m" => number * 60,
+            "h" => number * 60 * 60,
+            "d" => number * 60 * 60 * 24,
+            "w" => number * 60 * 60 * 24 * 7,
+            m => return Err(ParseDurationError::UnknownIdentifier(m.into())),
+        };
+    }
+
+    Ok(seconds)
+}
+
+/// Represents a duration parsing error.
+#[derive(Debug, Fail)]
+pub enum ParseDurationError {
+    /// The given duration string did not contain any duration part.
+    #[fail(display = "given string did not contain any duration part")]
+    Empty,
+
+    /// A numeric value was invalid.
+    #[fail(display = "duration part has invalid numeric value")]
+    InvalidValue(std::num::ParseIntError),
+
+    /// The given duration string contained an invalid duration modifier.
+    #[fail(display = "duration part has unknown time identifier '{}'", _0)]
+    UnknownIdentifier(String),
+}
+
 /// Format the given duration in a human readable format.
 /// This method builds a string of time components to represent
 /// the given duration.