diff --git a/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/writer.go b/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/writer.go
index 141f40c9e9f..a0a8d77cd92 100644
--- a/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/writer.go
+++ b/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/writer.go
@@ -65,29 +65,20 @@ type SpanWriterParams struct {
 	TagDotReplacement   string
 	Archive             bool
 	UseReadWriteAliases bool
-	ServiceCacheTTL     string
-	IndexCacheTTL       string
+	ServiceCacheTTL     time.Duration
+	IndexCacheTTL       time.Duration
 }
 
 // NewSpanWriter creates a new SpanWriter for use
 func NewSpanWriter(p SpanWriterParams) *SpanWriter {
-	var err error
-	serviceCacheTTL := serviceCacheTTLDefault
-	if p.ServiceCacheTTL != "" {
-		serviceCacheTTL, err = time.ParseDuration(p.ServiceCacheTTL)
-		if err != nil {
-			p.Logger.Warn("error parsing service cache duration. Using default", zap.Error(err), zap.Duration("default", serviceCacheTTLDefault))
-			serviceCacheTTL = serviceCacheTTLDefault
-		}
+	serviceCacheTTL := p.ServiceCacheTTL
+	if p.ServiceCacheTTL == 0 {
+		serviceCacheTTL = serviceCacheTTLDefault
 	}
 
-	indexCacheTTL := indexCacheTTLDefault
-	if p.ServiceCacheTTL != "" {
-		indexCacheTTL, err = time.ParseDuration(p.IndexCacheTTL)
-		if err != nil {
-			p.Logger.Warn("error parsing index cache duration. Using default", zap.Error(err), zap.Duration("default", indexCacheTTLDefault))
-			indexCacheTTL = indexCacheTTLDefault
-		}
+	indexCacheTTL := p.IndexCacheTTL
+	if p.ServiceCacheTTL == 0 {
+		indexCacheTTL = indexCacheTTLDefault
 	}
 
 	serviceOperationStorage := NewServiceOperationStorage(p.Client, p.Logger, serviceCacheTTL)
diff --git a/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/writer_test.go b/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/writer_test.go
index 837b9b94c3f..b92cc98a0f8 100644
--- a/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/writer_test.go
+++ b/plugin/storage/es/spanstore/writer_test.go
@@ -360,26 +360,20 @@ func TestSpanWriterParamsTTL(t *testing.T) {
 	logger, _ := testutils.NewLogger()
 	metricsFactory := metricstest.NewFactory(0)
 	testCases := []struct {
-		indexTTL         string
-		serviceTTL       string
+		indexTTL         time.Duration
+		serviceTTL       time.Duration
 		name             string
 		expectedAddCalls int
 	}{
 		{
-			indexTTL:         indexCacheTTLDefault.String(),
-			serviceTTL:       serviceCacheTTLDefault.String(),
+			indexTTL:         0,
+			serviceTTL:       0,
 			name:             "uses defaults",
 			expectedAddCalls: 1,
 		},
 		{
-			indexTTL:         "invalid",
-			serviceTTL:       "invalid2",
-			name:             "uses defaults if invalid input",
-			expectedAddCalls: 1,
-		},
-		{
-			indexTTL:         "1ns",
-			serviceTTL:       "1ns",
+			indexTTL:         1 * time.Nanosecond,
+			serviceTTL:       1 * time.Nanosecond,
 			name:             "uses provided values",
 			expectedAddCalls: 3,
 		},