diff --git a/HOCON.md b/HOCON.md
index 595e1b24..ffe785db 100644
--- a/HOCON.md
+++ b/HOCON.md
@@ -1200,9 +1200,9 @@ parsed as a number plus an optional unit string.
 The supported unit strings for duration are case sensitive and
 must be lowercase. Exactly these strings are supported:
 
- - `ns`, `nanosecond`, `nanoseconds`
- - `us`, `microsecond`, `microseconds`
- - `ms`, `millisecond`, `milliseconds`
+ - `ns`, `nano`, `nanos`, `nanosecond`, `nanoseconds`
+ - `us`, `micro`, `micros`, `microsecond`, `microseconds`
+ - `ms`, `milli`, `millis`, `millisecond`, `milliseconds`
  - `s`, `second`, `seconds`
  - `m`, `minute`, `minutes`
  - `h`, `hour`, `hours`
diff --git a/config/src/main/java/com/typesafe/config/impl/SimpleConfig.java b/config/src/main/java/com/typesafe/config/impl/SimpleConfig.java
index 277c2d04..b202c90c 100644
--- a/config/src/main/java/com/typesafe/config/impl/SimpleConfig.java
+++ b/config/src/main/java/com/typesafe/config/impl/SimpleConfig.java
@@ -512,12 +512,12 @@ final class SimpleConfig implements Config, MergeableValue, Serializable {
             unitString = unitString + "s";
 
         // note that this is deliberately case-sensitive
-        if (unitString.equals("") || unitString.equals("ms")
+        if (unitString.equals("") || unitString.equals("ms") || unitString.equals("millis")
                 || unitString.equals("milliseconds")) {
             units = TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS;
-        } else if (unitString.equals("us") || unitString.equals("microseconds")) {
+        } else if (unitString.equals("us") || unitString.equals("micros") || unitString.equals("microseconds")) {
             units = TimeUnit.MICROSECONDS;
-        } else if (unitString.equals("ns") || unitString.equals("nanoseconds")) {
+        } else if (unitString.equals("ns") || unitString.equals("nanos") || unitString.equals("nanoseconds")) {
             units = TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS;
         } else if (unitString.equals("d") || unitString.equals("days")) {
             units = TimeUnit.DAYS;
diff --git a/config/src/test/resources/test01.conf b/config/src/test/resources/test01.conf
index eae7f69e..586d23f3 100644
--- a/config/src/test/resources/test01.conf
+++ b/config/src/test/resources/test01.conf
@@ -54,7 +54,9 @@
         "second" : 1s,
         "secondsList" : [1s,2seconds,3 s, 4000],
         "secondAsNumber" : 1000,
-        "halfSecond" : 0.5s
+        "halfSecond" : 0.5s,
+        "millis" : 1 milli,
+        "micros" : 2000 micros
     },
 
     "memsizes" : {
diff --git a/config/src/test/scala/com/typesafe/config/impl/ConfigTest.scala b/config/src/test/scala/com/typesafe/config/impl/ConfigTest.scala
index a68f3897..7ca5fa66 100644
--- a/config/src/test/scala/com/typesafe/config/impl/ConfigTest.scala
+++ b/config/src/test/scala/com/typesafe/config/impl/ConfigTest.scala
@@ -769,6 +769,8 @@ class ConfigTest extends TestUtils {
             assertEquals(Seq(1, 2, 3, 4) map s2unit,
                 conf.getDurationList("durations.secondsList", unit).asScala)
             assertEquals(ms2unit(500L), conf.getDuration("durations.halfSecond", unit))
+            assertEquals(ms2unit(1L), conf.getDuration("durations.millis", unit))
+            assertEquals(ms2unit(2L), conf.getDuration("durations.micros", unit))
         }
 
         assertDurationAsTimeUnit(NANOSECONDS)