diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d54b44fb..fa660e87 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1231,13 +1231,13 @@ Where:
 
 * [mypath] is the path name
 * [start_date] is the start date in RFC3339 format
-* [duration] is the maximum duration of the recording in Golang format (example: 20s, 20h)
+* [duration] is the maximum duration of the recording in seconds
 * [format] must be fmp4
 
 All parameters must be [url-encoded](https://www.urlencoder.org/). For instance:
 
 ```
-http://localhost:9996/get?path=stream2&start=2024-01-14T16%3A33%3A17%2B00%3A00&duration=200s&format=fmp4
+http://localhost:9996/get?path=stream2&start=2024-01-14T16%3A33%3A17%2B00%3A00&duration=200.5&format=fmp4
 ```
 
 The resulting stream is natively compatible with any browser, therefore its URL can be directly inserted into a \<video> tag:
diff --git a/internal/playback/server.go b/internal/playback/server.go
index 965ec45e..a3782156 100644
--- a/internal/playback/server.go
+++ b/internal/playback/server.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
+	"strconv"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
 
@@ -22,6 +23,16 @@ const (
 
 var errNoSegmentsFound = errors.New("no recording segments found for the given timestamp")
 
+func parseDuration(raw string) (time.Duration, error) {
+	// seconds
+	if secs, err := strconv.ParseFloat(raw, 64); err == nil {
+		return time.Duration(secs * float64(time.Second)), nil
+	}
+
+	// deprecated, golang format
+	return time.ParseDuration(raw)
+}
+
 type listEntry struct {
 	Start    time.Time `json:"start"`
 	Duration float64   `json:"duration"`
@@ -172,7 +183,7 @@ func (p *Server) onGet(ctx *gin.Context) {
 		return
 	}
 
-	duration, err := time.ParseDuration(ctx.Query("duration"))
+	duration, err := parseDuration(ctx.Query("duration"))
 	if err != nil {
 		p.writeError(ctx, http.StatusBadRequest, fmt.Errorf("invalid duration: %w", err))
 		return
diff --git a/internal/playback/server_test.go b/internal/playback/server_test.go
index bc9d35d2..829e5a6b 100644
--- a/internal/playback/server_test.go
+++ b/internal/playback/server_test.go
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ func TestServerGet(t *testing.T) {
 	v := url.Values{}
 	v.Set("path", "mypath")
 	v.Set("start", time.Date(2008, 11, 0o7, 11, 23, 1, 0, time.Local).Format(time.RFC3339))
-	v.Set("duration", "2s")
+	v.Set("duration", "2")
 	v.Set("format", "fmp4")
 
 	u := &url.URL{