diff --git a/etc/linspector.conf b/etc/linspector.conf
index e07ec71..0f5cc7d 100644
--- a/etc/linspector.conf
+++ b/etc/linspector.conf
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ start_scheduler = true
 ; explain this.... :) default is "thread" but Linspector will only run on one CPU core then. default threads are 1024
 ; but this can be set much higher here. this should be minimal set to the number of monitors you are running.
 scheduler_mode = process
+; the default job interval can be set here. in the code 300 seconds are set when this option does not exist here nor in
+; the monitor configuration.
+default_interval = 5
 max_threads = 2048
 ; i recommend to set this to your number of CPU cores available when running on a dedicated Linspector host. but if the
 ; system is running other services you should lower this value when you have too high CPU load. if you have enough
diff --git a/etc/monitors/test/test10.conf b/etc/monitors/test/test10.conf
index df5e30c..030160e 100644
--- a/etc/monitors/test/test10.conf
+++ b/etc/monitors/test/test10.conf
@@ -4,4 +4,3 @@ service = misc.dummy
 hosts = 192.168.10.10
 
 [args]
-interval = 120
diff --git a/linspector/core/monitor.py b/linspector/core/monitor.py
index 7773984..39030ff 100644
--- a/linspector/core/monitor.py
+++ b/linspector/core/monitor.py
@@ -20,13 +20,23 @@ class Monitor:
         self.__configuration = configuration
         self.__environment = environment
         self.__identifier = identifier
-        if int(monitor_configuration.get('args', 'interval')):
+        try:
             self.__interval = int(monitor_configuration.get('args', 'interval'))
-        else:
-            # default interval is 5 minutes if not set in the monitor.
-            log('warning', 'no interval set in identifier ' + identifier + ' set to default '
-                                                                           'interval 300 seconds.')
-            self.__interval = 300
+        except Exception as err:
+            log('warning', 'no interval set in identifier ' + identifier + ', trying to get a '
+                                                                           'monitor configuration '
+                                                                           'setting. error: ' +
+                str(err))
+            try:
+                self.__interval = int(configuration.get_option('linspector', 'default_interval'))
+                log('warning', 'set default_interval as per configuration to core with '
+                               'identifier ' + identifier + ' to: ' + str(self.__interval))
+            except Exception as err:
+                log('warning', 'no default_interval found in core configuration for identifier ' +
+                    identifier + ', set to default interval 300 seconds. error: ' + str(err))
+                # default interval is 300 seconds (5 minutes) if not set in the monitor
+                # configuration args or a default_interval in the core configuration.
+                self.__interval = 300
         self.__log = log
         self.__monitor_configuration = monitor_configuration
         self.__notification_list = []