diff --git a/src/main/java/elf4j/engine/service/configuration/RefreshableLogServiceConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/elf4j/engine/service/configuration/RefreshableLogServiceConfiguration.java
index dd441d2..71719c8 100644
--- a/src/main/java/elf4j/engine/service/configuration/RefreshableLogServiceConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/elf4j/engine/service/configuration/RefreshableLogServiceConfiguration.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import elf4j.engine.service.BufferingWriterThread;
 import elf4j.engine.service.LogServiceManager;
 import elf4j.engine.service.WriterThread;
+import elf4j.engine.service.util.PropertiesUtils;
 import elf4j.engine.service.writer.BufferedStandardOutput;
 import elf4j.engine.service.writer.LogWriter;
 import elf4j.util.InternalLogger;
@@ -45,7 +46,6 @@
  */
 @ToString
 public class RefreshableLogServiceConfiguration implements LogServiceConfiguration, Refreshable {
-    private static final String UNDEFINED_INT = "0";
     private final Map<NativeLogger, Boolean> loggerConfigurationCache = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
     private final PropertiesLoader propertiesLoader;
     private boolean noop;
@@ -117,13 +117,8 @@ private void parseConfigurations(@Nullable Properties properties) {
         }
         this.callerLevelRepository = CallerLevelRepository.from(properties);
         this.writerRepository = WriterRepository.from(properties);
-        this.writerThread =
-                new BufferingWriterThread(Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty("buffer.front", UNDEFINED_INT)
-                        .replace("_", "")
-                        .replace(",", "")));
+        this.writerThread = new BufferingWriterThread(PropertiesUtils.getAsInt("buffer.front", properties));
         this.standardOutputBufferCapacity =
-                new BufferedStandardOutput(Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty("buffer.back", UNDEFINED_INT)
-                        .replace("_", "")
-                        .replace(",", "")));
+                new BufferedStandardOutput(PropertiesUtils.getAsInt("buffer.back", properties));
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/elf4j/engine/service/util/PropertiesUtils.java b/src/main/java/elf4j/engine/service/util/PropertiesUtils.java
index c881af3..c4b61e3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/elf4j/engine/service/util/PropertiesUtils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/elf4j/engine/service/util/PropertiesUtils.java
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
  */
 public class PropertiesUtils {
 
+    private static final String UNDEFINED_INT = "0";
+
     private PropertiesUtils() {
     }
 
@@ -72,4 +74,15 @@ public static List<Map<String, String>> getPropertiesGroupOfType(String type, @N
                 .map(name -> getChildProperties(name, properties))
                 .collect(Collectors.toList());
     }
+
+    /**
+     * @param name
+     *         full key in properties
+     * @param properties
+     *         to look up in
+     * @return int value in specified properties, default to 0 if missing
+     */
+    public static int getAsInt(String name, @NonNull Properties properties) {
+        return Integer.parseInt(properties.getProperty(name, UNDEFINED_INT).replace("_", "").replace(",", ""));
+    }
 }
\ No newline at end of file