diff --git a/hgext3rd/obsshelve.py b/hgext3rd/obsshelve.py
--- a/hgext3rd/obsshelve.py
+++ b/hgext3rd/obsshelve.py
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@
 
 def cleanupoldbackups(repo):
     vfs = vfsmod.vfs(repo.vfs.join(backupdir))
-    maxbackups = repo.ui.configint('shelve', 'maxbackups', 10)
+    maxbackups = repo.ui.configint('shelve', 'maxbackups')
     hgfiles = [f for f in vfs.listdir()
                if f.endswith('.' + patchextension)]
     hgfiles = sorted([(vfs.stat(f).st_mtime, f) for f in hgfiles])