diff --git a/src/expire.c b/src/expire.c
index 646f752a9..d4289d758 100644
--- a/src/expire.c
+++ b/src/expire.c
@@ -94,7 +94,8 @@ int activeExpireCycleTryExpire(redisDb *db, dictEntry *de, long long now) {
 #define ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_SLOW_TIME_PERC 25 /* Max % of CPU to use. */
 #define ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_ACCEPTABLE_STALE 10 /* % of stale keys after which
                                                    we do extra efforts. */
-#define HFE_ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_FIELDS 1000
+
+#define HFE_DB_BASE_ACTIVE_EXPIRE_FIELDS_PER_SEC 10000
 
 /* Data used by the expire dict scan callback. */
 typedef struct {
@@ -151,8 +152,6 @@ static inline void activeExpireHashFieldCycle(int type) {
     static uint64_t activeExpirySequence = 0;
     /* Threshold for adjusting maxToExpire */
     const uint32_t EXPIRED_FIELDS_TH = 1000000;
-    /* Maximum number of fields to actively expire in a single call */
-    uint32_t maxToExpire = HFE_ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_FIELDS;
 
     redisDb *db = server.db + currentDb;
 
@@ -163,6 +162,9 @@ static inline void activeExpireHashFieldCycle(int type) {
         return;
     }
 
+    /* Maximum number of fields to actively expire on a single call */
+    uint32_t maxToExpire = HFE_DB_BASE_ACTIVE_EXPIRE_FIELDS_PER_SEC / server.hz;
+
     /* If running for a while and didn't manage to active-expire all expired fields of
      * currentDb (i.e. activeExpirySequence becomes significant) then adjust maxToExpire */
     if ((activeExpirySequence > EXPIRED_FIELDS_TH) && (type == ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_SLOW)) {