diff --git a/include/haproxy/limits.h b/include/haproxy/limits.h
index 51e03e66a..0b1e84401 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/limits.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/limits.h
@@ -8,10 +8,23 @@
 #ifndef _HAPROXY_LIMITS_H
 #define _HAPROXY_LIMITS_H
 #include <sys/resource.h>
+#include <haproxy/compat.h>
 
 extern unsigned int rlim_fd_cur_at_boot;
 extern unsigned int rlim_fd_max_at_boot;
 
+/* returns 0 if the given limit was not set (reported as infinity), otherwise
+ * returns the limit, useful to print limit values as strings in err messages
+ * via LIM2A macros.
+ */
+static inline ulong normalize_rlim(ulong rlim)
+{
+	if (rlim == RLIM_INFINITY)
+		return 0;
+
+	return rlim;
+}
+
 /* handlers to compute internal process limits, if they are not provided via
  * cmd line or via configuration file.
 */
diff --git a/src/debug.c b/src/debug.c
index 4526d6040..79ace2ae3 100644
--- a/src/debug.c
+++ b/src/debug.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include <haproxy/global.h>
 #include <haproxy/hlua.h>
 #include <haproxy/http_ana.h>
+#include <haproxy/limits.h>
 #if defined(USE_LINUX_CAP)
 #include <haproxy/linuxcap.h>
 #endif
@@ -605,14 +606,14 @@ static int debug_parse_cli_show_dev(char **args, char *payload, struct appctx *a
 		chunk_appendf(&trash, "  capget() failed at runtime with: %s.\n",
 			      strerror(post_mortem.process.caps.err_run));
 #endif
-	if ((ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_fd.rlim_cur != RLIM_INFINITY)
-		chunk_appendf(&trash, "  fd limit (soft): %lu\n", (ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_fd.rlim_cur);
-	if ((ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_fd.rlim_max != RLIM_INFINITY)
-		chunk_appendf(&trash, "  fd limit (hard): %lu\n", (ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_fd.rlim_max);
-	if ((ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_ram.rlim_cur != RLIM_INFINITY)
-		chunk_appendf(&trash, "  ram limit (soft): %lu\n", (ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_ram.rlim_cur);
-	if ((ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_ram.rlim_max != RLIM_INFINITY)
-		chunk_appendf(&trash, "  ram limit (hard): %lu\n", (ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_ram.rlim_max);
+	chunk_appendf(&trash, "  fd limit (soft): %s\n",
+		      LIM2A(normalize_rlim((ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_fd.rlim_cur), "unlimited"));
+	chunk_appendf(&trash, "  fd limit (hard): %s\n",
+		      LIM2A(normalize_rlim((ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_fd.rlim_max), "unlimited"));
+	chunk_appendf(&trash, "  ram limit (soft): %s\n",
+		      LIM2A(normalize_rlim((ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_ram.rlim_cur), "unlimited"));
+	chunk_appendf(&trash, "  ram limit (hard): %s\n",
+		      LIM2A(normalize_rlim((ulong)post_mortem.process.limit_ram.rlim_max), "unlimited"));
 
 	return cli_msg(appctx, LOG_INFO, trash.area);
 }
diff --git a/src/limits.c b/src/limits.c
index c5b4820c6..bb7451060 100644
--- a/src/limits.c
+++ b/src/limits.c
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
  *
  */
 
-#include <haproxy/compat.h>
 #include <haproxy/global.h>
 #include <haproxy/limits.h>
 #include <haproxy/proxy.h>