diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ibm/watson/modelmesh/ModelMesh.java b/src/main/java/com/ibm/watson/modelmesh/ModelMesh.java
index 1af0e83b..c8c9cd65 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ibm/watson/modelmesh/ModelMesh.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ibm/watson/modelmesh/ModelMesh.java
@@ -268,6 +268,8 @@ public abstract class ModelMesh extends ThriftService
     // time before which we don't wait for migrated models to load elsewhere during pre-shutdown
     protected static final long CUTOFF_AGE_MS = 60 * 60_000L; // 1 hour
 
+    protected static final long THREE_MINS_MS = 3 * 60_000L;
+
     // max combined number of cache-hit/miss retries per request - mainly just a safeguard
     protected static final int MAX_ITERATIONS = 8;
 
@@ -5936,7 +5938,7 @@ public void run() {
                                     } else {
                                         lastUsed = ce != null ? runtimeCache.getLastUsedTime(modelId) : -1L;
                                         // Use shorter expiry age if model was used in last 3 minutes
-                                        final long expiryAge = (lastUsed > 0 && (now - lastUsed) < 180_000L)
+                                        final long expiryAge = (lastUsed > 0 && (now - lastUsed) < THREE_MINS_MS)
                                                 ? IN_USE_LOAD_FAILURE_EXPIRY_MS : LOAD_FAILURE_EXPIRY_MS;
                                         if (now - failedTime > expiryAge) {
                                             remFailed = true;