diff --git a/cake/libs/view/helpers/time.php b/cake/libs/view/helpers/time.php
index 0a7101643..6700a9df5 100644
--- a/cake/libs/view/helpers/time.php
+++ b/cake/libs/view/helpers/time.php
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ class TimeHelper extends AppHelper {
  */
 	function wasWithinLast($timeInterval, $date_string) {
 		$tmp = r(' ', '', $timeInterval);
-		if (is_int($tmp) || preg_match('/[\d]+/', $tmp)) {
+		if (is_numeric($tmp)) {
 			$timeInterval = $tmp.' days';
 		}
 
diff --git a/cake/tests/cases/libs/view/helpers/time.test.php b/cake/tests/cases/libs/view/helpers/time.test.php
index 8e0974136..4cc54add4 100644
--- a/cake/tests/cases/libs/view/helpers/time.test.php
+++ b/cake/tests/cases/libs/view/helpers/time.test.php
@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ class TimeTest extends UnitTestCase {
 		$this->assertTrue($this->Time->wasWithinLast('5 ', '-3 days'));
 		$this->assertTrue($this->Time->wasWithinLast('1   ', '-1 hour'));
 		$this->assertTrue($this->Time->wasWithinLast('1   ', '-1 minute'));
-		$this->assertTrue($this->Time->wasWithinLast('1   ', '-23 hours -59 minutes - 59 seconds'));
+		$this->assertTrue($this->Time->wasWithinLast('1   ', '-23 hours -59 minutes -59 seconds'));
 	}
 
 	function tearDown() {