diff --git a/include/ostatus_conversation.php b/include/ostatus_conversation.php
index cecbb04964..36ba207abe 100644
--- a/include/ostatus_conversation.php
+++ b/include/ostatus_conversation.php
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 <?php
 define('OSTATUS_DEFAULT_POLL_INTERVAL', 30); // given in minutes
+define('OSTATUS_DEFAULT_POLL_TIMEFRAME', 1440); // given in minutes
 
 function check_conversations() {
         $last = get_config('system','ostatus_last_poll');
@@ -8,17 +9,25 @@ function check_conversations() {
         if(! $poll_interval)
                 $poll_interval = OSTATUS_DEFAULT_POLL_INTERVAL;
 
+	// Don't poll if the interval is set negative
+	if ($poll_interval < 0)
+		return;
+
+        $poll_timeframe = intval(get_config('system','ostatus_poll_timeframe'));
+        if(! $poll_timeframe)
+                $poll_timeframe = OSTATUS_DEFAULT_POLL_TIMEFRAME;
+
         if($last) {
                 $next = $last + ($poll_interval * 60);
                 if($next > time()) {
-                        logger('complete_conversation: poll intervall not reached');
+                        logger('complete_conversation: poll interval not reached');
                         return;
                 }
         }
 
         logger('complete_conversation: cron_start');
 
-        $start = date("Y-m-d H:i:s", time() - 86400);
+        $start = date("Y-m-d H:i:s", time() - ($poll_timeframe * 60));
         $conversations = q("SELECT * FROM `term` WHERE `type` = 7 AND `term` > '%s'", 
                                 dbesc($start));
         foreach ($conversations AS $conversation) {
@@ -100,18 +109,18 @@ function complete_conversation($itemid, $conversation_url, $only_add_conversatio
 			else
 				$parent_uri = $parent["uri"];
 
-			if ($parent["id"] != 0) {
-				$message_exists = q("SELECT `id` FROM `item` WHERE `uid` = %d AND `uri` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
+			$message_exists = q("SELECT `id` FROM `item` WHERE `uid` = %d AND `uri` = '%s' LIMIT 1",
 							intval($message["uid"]), dbesc($single_conv->id));
-				if ($message_exists) {
+			if ($message_exists) {
+				if ($parent["id"] != 0) {
 					$existing_message = $message_exists[0];
 					$r = q("UPDATE `item` SET `parent` = %d, `parent-uri` = '%s', `thr-parent` = '%s' WHERE `id` = %d LIMIT 1",
 						intval($parent["id"]),
 						dbesc($parent["uri"]),
 						dbesc($parent_uri),
 						intval($existing_message["id"]));
-					continue;
 				}
+				continue;
 			}
 
 			$arr = array();