diff --git a/USAGE.md b/USAGE.md
index 9998e0fb2..7362efdd7 100644
--- a/USAGE.md
+++ b/USAGE.md
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ typedef struct notcurses_options {
   // of the screen. If the screen is too small, we do what we can--this is
   // strictly best-effort. Absolute coordinates are relative to the rendering
   // area ((0, 0) is always the origin of the rendering area).
-  int margin_t, margin_r, margin_b, margin_l;
+  unsigned margin_t, margin_r, margin_b, margin_l;
   // General flags; see NCOPTION_*. This is expressed as a bitfield so that
   // future options can be added without reshaping the struct. Undefined bits
   // must be set to 0.
diff --git a/doc/man/man3/notcurses_init.3.md b/doc/man/man3/notcurses_init.3.md
index 726ba6e31..d2b5eb8ca 100644
--- a/doc/man/man3/notcurses_init.3.md
+++ b/doc/man/man3/notcurses_init.3.md
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ typedef enum {
 typedef struct notcurses_options {
   const char* termtype;
   ncloglevel_e loglevel;
-  int margin_t, margin_r, margin_b, margin_l;
+  unsigned margin_t, margin_r, margin_b, margin_l;
   uint64_t flags; // from NCOPTION_* bits
 } notcurses_options;
 ```
diff --git a/include/notcurses/notcurses.h b/include/notcurses/notcurses.h
index 8cbe640fc..5b7803521 100644
--- a/include/notcurses/notcurses.h
+++ b/include/notcurses/notcurses.h
@@ -920,7 +920,7 @@ typedef struct notcurses_options {
   // of the screen. If the screen is too small, we do what we can--this is
   // strictly best-effort. Absolute coordinates are relative to the rendering
   // area ((0, 0) is always the origin of the rendering area).
-  int margin_t, margin_r, margin_b, margin_l;
+  unsigned margin_t, margin_r, margin_b, margin_l;
   // General flags; see NCOPTION_*. This is expressed as a bitfield so that
   // future options can be added without reshaping the struct. Undefined bits
   // must be set to 0.
diff --git a/src/lib/notcurses.c b/src/lib/notcurses.c
index 229beac97..c981ad45d 100644
--- a/src/lib/notcurses.c
+++ b/src/lib/notcurses.c
@@ -1048,10 +1048,6 @@ notcurses_early_init(const struct notcurses_options* opts, FILE* fp, unsigned* u
   }
   memset(ret, 0, sizeof(*ret));
   if(opts){
-    if(opts->margin_t < 0 || opts->margin_b < 0 || opts->margin_l < 0 || opts->margin_r < 0){
-      fprintf(stderr, "Provided an illegal negative margin, refusing to start\n");
-      return NULL;
-    }
     if(opts->flags >= (NCOPTION_DRAIN_INPUT << 1u)){
       fprintf(stderr, "Warning: unknown Notcurses options %016" PRIu64 "\n", opts->flags);
     }
@@ -2801,7 +2797,7 @@ bool ncplane_scrolling_p(const ncplane* n){
 // extract an integer, which must be non-negative, and followed by either a
 // comma or a NUL terminator.
 static int
-lex_long(const char* op, int* i, char** endptr){
+lex_ulong(const char* op, unsigned* i, char** endptr){
   errno = 0;
   long l = strtol(op, endptr, 10);
   if(l < 0 || (l == LONG_MAX && errno == ERANGE) || (l > INT_MAX)){
@@ -2850,7 +2846,7 @@ const char* notcurses_str_scalemode(ncscale_e scalemode){
 
 int notcurses_lex_margins(const char* op, notcurses_options* opts){
   char* eptr;
-  if(lex_long(op, &opts->margin_t, &eptr)){
+  if(lex_ulong(op, &opts->margin_t, &eptr)){
     return -1;
   }
   if(!*eptr){ // allow a single value to be specified for all four margins
@@ -2858,15 +2854,15 @@ int notcurses_lex_margins(const char* op, notcurses_options* opts){
     return 0;
   }
   op = ++eptr; // once here, we require four values
-  if(lex_long(op, &opts->margin_r, &eptr) || !*eptr){
+  if(lex_ulong(op, &opts->margin_r, &eptr) || !*eptr){
     return -1;
   }
   op = ++eptr;
-  if(lex_long(op, &opts->margin_b, &eptr) || !*eptr){
+  if(lex_ulong(op, &opts->margin_b, &eptr) || !*eptr){
     return -1;
   }
   op = ++eptr;
-  if(lex_long(op, &opts->margin_l, &eptr) || *eptr){ // must end in NUL
+  if(lex_ulong(op, &opts->margin_l, &eptr) || *eptr){ // must end in NUL
     return -1;
   }
   return 0;