diff --git a/core/commands/repo.go b/core/commands/repo.go
index 1e928cb13..5ca8d35e0 100644
--- a/core/commands/repo.go
+++ b/core/commands/repo.go
@@ -191,11 +191,13 @@ Version         string The repo version.
 			} else {
 				fmt.Fprintf(wtr, "RepoSize:\t%d\n", stat.RepoSize)
 			}
-			maxSizeInMiB := stat.StorageMax / (1024 * 1024)
-			if human && maxSizeInMiB > 0 {
-				fmt.Fprintf(wtr, "StorageMax (MiB):\t%d\n", maxSizeInMiB)
-			} else {
-				fmt.Fprintf(wtr, "StorageMax:\t%d\n", stat.StorageMax)
+			if stat.StorageMax != corerepo.NoLimit {
+				maxSizeInMiB := stat.StorageMax / (1024 * 1024)
+				if human && maxSizeInMiB > 0 {
+					fmt.Fprintf(wtr, "StorageMax (MiB):\t%d\n", maxSizeInMiB)
+				} else {
+					fmt.Fprintf(wtr, "StorageMax:\t%d\n", stat.StorageMax)
+				}
 			}
 			fmt.Fprintf(wtr, "RepoPath:\t%s\n", stat.RepoPath)
 			fmt.Fprintf(wtr, "Version:\t%s\n", stat.Version)
diff --git a/core/corerepo/stat.go b/core/corerepo/stat.go
index c8826ef9f..9f756209a 100644
--- a/core/corerepo/stat.go
+++ b/core/corerepo/stat.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package corerepo
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"math"
 
 	context "context"
 	"github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/core"
@@ -18,6 +19,9 @@ type Stat struct {
 	StorageMax uint64 // size in bytes
 }
 
+// NoLimit represents the value for unlimited storage
+const NoLimit uint64 = math.MaxUint64
+
 func RepoStat(n *core.IpfsNode, ctx context.Context) (*Stat, error) {
 	r := n.Repo
 
@@ -46,9 +50,12 @@ func RepoStat(n *core.IpfsNode, ctx context.Context) (*Stat, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	storageMax, err := humanize.ParseBytes(cfg.Datastore.StorageMax)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	storageMax := NoLimit
+	if cfg.Datastore.StorageMax != "" {
+		storageMax, err = humanize.ParseBytes(cfg.Datastore.StorageMax)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 	}
 
 	return &Stat{
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0080-repo.sh b/test/sharness/t0080-repo.sh
index e1bf97c3a..e99cf834b 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0080-repo.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0080-repo.sh
@@ -263,4 +263,11 @@ test_expect_success "repo version came out correct" '
 
 test_kill_ipfs_daemon
 
+test_expect_success "remove Datastore.StorageMax from config" '
+  ipfs config Datastore.StorageMax ""
+'
+test_expect_success "'ipfs repo stat' still succeeds" '
+  ipfs repo stat > repo-stats
+'
+
 test_done