diff --git a/src/or/config.c b/src/or/config.c
index a238a1ae70..ffa984bcda 100644
--- a/src/or/config.c
+++ b/src/or/config.c
@@ -2485,7 +2485,7 @@ options_validate(or_options_t *old_options, or_options_t *options,
       log_warn(LD_CONFIG, "PathsNeededToBuildCircuits is too low. Increasing "
                "to 0.25");
       options->PathsNeededToBuildCircuits = 0.25;
-    } else if (options->PathsNeededToBuildCircuits < 0.95) {
+    } else if (options->PathsNeededToBuildCircuits > 0.95) {
       log_warn(LD_CONFIG, "PathsNeededToBuildCircuits is too high. Decreasing "
                "to 0.95");
       options->PathsNeededToBuildCircuits = 0.95;
diff --git a/src/or/nodelist.c b/src/or/nodelist.c
index 5f3b843d02..178f084b69 100644
--- a/src/or/nodelist.c
+++ b/src/or/nodelist.c
@@ -1418,7 +1418,7 @@ get_frac_paths_needed_for_circs(const or_options_t *options,
                                 const networkstatus_t *ns)
 {
 #define DFLT_PCT_USABLE_NEEDED 60
-  if (options->PathsNeededToBuildCircuits >= 1.0) {
+  if (options->PathsNeededToBuildCircuits >= 0.0) {
     return options->PathsNeededToBuildCircuits;
   } else {
     return networkstatus_get_param(ns, "min_paths_for_circs_pct",