diff --git a/app/models/application_setting.rb b/app/models/application_setting.rb
index 17193036fb67d32251455ecb6c90bb08a4426193..19af40eacb4c9ac88ab30740a5dd35fbc9247c1f 100644
--- a/app/models/application_setting.rb
+++ b/app/models/application_setting.rb
@@ -306,9 +306,15 @@ class ApplicationSetting < ActiveRecord::Base
   end
 
   def check_default_artifacts_expire_in
-    ChronicDuration.parse(default_artifacts_expire_in) if
-      default_artifacts_expire_in
-    true
+    return true unless default_artifacts_expire_in
+
+    if ChronicDuration.parse(default_artifacts_expire_in).nil?
+      errors.add(:default_artifacts_expire_in,
+        "can't be 0. Leave it blank for unlimited")
+      false
+    else
+      true
+    end
   rescue ChronicDuration::DurationParseError => e
     errors.add(:default_artifacts_expire_in, ": #{e.message}")
     false
diff --git a/lib/api/entities.rb b/lib/api/entities.rb
index 2a071e649fa28908252e5ddcf87b478ab0025d65..fb0584539db763791db7c1eefe37f15cdcaf2b48 100644
--- a/lib/api/entities.rb
+++ b/lib/api/entities.rb
@@ -559,6 +559,7 @@ module API
       expose :default_project_visibility
       expose :default_snippet_visibility
       expose :default_group_visibility
+      expose :default_artifacts_expire_in
       expose :domain_whitelist
       expose :domain_blacklist_enabled
       expose :domain_blacklist
diff --git a/lib/api/settings.rb b/lib/api/settings.rb
index f46e7e0bcf15489178d37f57e59fa115b582a32b..936c7e0930b62c07bfda1311e19ff9f7bcfa883d 100644
--- a/lib/api/settings.rb
+++ b/lib/api/settings.rb
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ module API
         requires :shared_runners_text, type: String, desc: 'Shared runners text '
       end
       optional :max_artifacts_size, type: Integer, desc: "Set the maximum file size for each job's artifacts"
-      optional :default_artifacts_expire_in, type: Integer, desc: "Set the default expiration time for each job's artifacts"
+      optional :default_artifacts_expire_in, type: String, desc: "Set the default expiration time for each job's artifacts"
       optional :max_pages_size, type: Integer, desc: 'Maximum size of pages in MB'
       optional :container_registry_token_expire_delay, type: Integer, desc: 'Authorization token duration (minutes)'
       optional :metrics_enabled, type: Boolean, desc: 'Enable the InfluxDB metrics'
diff --git a/spec/models/application_setting_spec.rb b/spec/models/application_setting_spec.rb
index 15632bac0947a2102c6f2f4219be1bf7a85f0522..9629f85860929efb2fb155d7c33a2b01f0bde995 100644
--- a/spec/models/application_setting_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/application_setting_spec.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@ describe ApplicationSetting, models: true do
         expect(setting).to be_invalid
       end
 
+      it 'does not allow 0' do
+        setting.update(default_artifacts_expire_in: '0')
+
+        expect(setting).to be_invalid
+      end
+
       it 'sets the value if it is valid' do
         setting.update(default_artifacts_expire_in: '30 days')