diff --git a/php_memcached_session.c b/php_memcached_session.c
index de8d1651..d1d45b66 100644
--- a/php_memcached_session.c
+++ b/php_memcached_session.c
@@ -343,7 +343,7 @@ PS_WRITE_FUNC(memcached)
 	}
 
 	if (PS(gc_maxlifetime) > 0) {
-		expiration = PS(gc_maxlifetime);
+		expiration = time(NULL) + PS(gc_maxlifetime);
 	}
 
 	/* Set the number of write retry attempts to the number of replicas times the number of attempts to remove a server plus the initial write */