diff --git a/src/journal/journalctl.c b/src/journal/journalctl.c
index f50faf42a..03579fde0 100644
--- a/src/journal/journalctl.c
+++ b/src/journal/journalctl.c
@@ -682,7 +682,7 @@ static int parse_argv(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                         assert_not_reached("Unhandled option");
                 }
 
-        if (arg_follow && !arg_no_tail && arg_lines == ARG_LINES_DEFAULT)
+        if (arg_follow && !arg_no_tail && !arg_since && arg_lines == ARG_LINES_DEFAULT)
                 arg_lines = 10;
 
         if (!!arg_directory + !!arg_file + !!arg_machine > 1) {