diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index 27c6f3842583a93bd194b04cf5cc4513b6b4f3bd..107845eb4923bd05883114343226abe38dc8913e 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -922,7 +922,7 @@ static void init_timers(void)
         sigaction(SIGALRM, &act, NULL);
 
         itv.it_interval.tv_sec = 0;
-        itv.it_interval.tv_usec = 1000;
+        itv.it_interval.tv_usec = 999; /* for i386 kernel 2.6 to get 1 ms */
         itv.it_value.tv_sec = 0;
         itv.it_value.tv_usec = 10 * 1000;
         setitimer(ITIMER_REAL, &itv, NULL);