diff --git a/src/config.c b/src/config.c
--- a/src/config.c
+++ b/src/config.c
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@
      * We can easily provide default values ...
      */
     uc->nick = uc->pass = uc->server = uc->channel = uc->topic = NULL;
-    uc->port = 6667;
+    uc->port = "6667";
 
     while (!feof (f)) {
         if (fgets (buffer, sizeof (buffer), f) == NULL)
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
                 free (line[map]);
                 break;
             case PORT:
-                uc->port = atoi (line[map]);
+                uc->port = compat_strdup (line[map]);
                 free (line[map]);
                 break;
             case CHANNEL: