diff --git a/httpx_caching/_policy.py b/httpx_caching/_policy.py
index df0bd5e..fd5c3fb 100644
--- a/httpx_caching/_policy.py
+++ b/httpx_caching/_policy.py
@@ -222,8 +222,12 @@ def try_from_cache_policy(
     # determine freshness
     freshness_lifetime = 0
 
+    # Check the s-maxage pragma in the cache control header
+    if "s-maxage" in resp_cc:
+        freshness_lifetime = resp_cc["s-maxage"]
+        logger.debug("Freshness lifetime from s-maxage: %i", freshness_lifetime)
     # Check the max-age pragma in the cache control header
-    if "max-age" in resp_cc:
+    elif "max-age" in resp_cc:
         freshness_lifetime = resp_cc["max-age"]
         logger.debug("Freshness lifetime from max-age: %i", freshness_lifetime)
     # If there isn't a max-age, check for an expires header