diff --git a/bugwarrior/services/__init__.py b/bugwarrior/services/__init__.py
index 7bc0ba9f7..348eead60 100644
--- a/bugwarrior/services/__init__.py
+++ b/bugwarrior/services/__init__.py
@@ -16,9 +16,14 @@ def __init__(self, config, target, shorten):
         self.config = config
         self.target = target
         self.shorten = shorten
-        self.desc_len = self.config.getint('general', 'description_length')
-        self.anno_len = self.config.getint('general', 'annotation_length')
-
+        if config.has_option('general', 'description_length'):
+            self.desc_len = self.config.getint('general', 'description_length')
+        else:
+            self.desc_len = 35
+        if config.has_option('general', 'annotation_length'):
+            self.anno_len = self.config.getint('general', 'annotation_length')
+        else:
+            self.anno_len = 45
         log.name(target).info("Working on [{0}]", self.target)
 
     @classmethod