diff --git a/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/parse-url-string.ts b/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/parse-url-string.ts
index a3eb8bd3..d406710e 100644
--- a/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/parse-url-string.ts
+++ b/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/parse-url-string.ts
@@ -26,8 +26,9 @@ export interface ParsedUrlQuery extends Record<string, string | unknown> {
 interface ParsedUrlStringResultsBase extends ResolveResult {
   protocol: 'ipfs' | 'ipns'
   query: ParsedUrlQuery
+
   /**
-   * milliseconds as a number
+   * seconds as a number
    */
   ttl?: number
 }
@@ -59,9 +60,12 @@ function matchURLString (urlString: string): MatchUrlGroups {
 }
 
 /**
- * determines the TTL for the resolved resource.
+ * determines the TTL for the resolved resource that will be used for the `Cache-Control` header's `max-age` directive.
+ * max-age is in seconds
+ *
+ * @see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Cache-Control#response_directives
  *
- * If we have ipnsTtlNs, it will be a BigInt representing nanoseconds. We need to convert it back to milliseconds.
+ * If we have ipnsTtlNs, it will be a BigInt representing "nanoseconds". We need to convert it back to seconds.
  *
  * For more TTL nuances:
  *
@@ -74,7 +78,8 @@ function calculateTtl (resolveResult?: IPNSResolveResult | DNSLinkResolveResult)
   }
   const dnsLinkTtl = (resolveResult as DNSLinkResolveResult).answer?.TTL
   const ipnsTtlNs = (resolveResult as IPNSResolveResult).record?.ttl
-  const ipnsTtl = ipnsTtlNs != null ? Number(BigInt(ipnsTtlNs) / BigInt(1e5)) : undefined
+  // For some reason, ipns "nanoseconds" are 1e-8 of a second, instead of 1e-9.
+  const ipnsTtl = ipnsTtlNs != null ? Number(ipnsTtlNs / BigInt(1e8)) : undefined
   return dnsLinkTtl ?? ipnsTtl
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/response-headers.ts b/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/response-headers.ts
index b807891b..47574dc8 100644
--- a/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/response-headers.ts
+++ b/packages/verified-fetch/src/utils/response-headers.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
 interface CacheControlHeaderOptions {
+  /**
+   * This should be seconds as a number.
+   *
+   * See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Cache-Control#response_directives
+   */
   ttl?: number
   protocol: 'ipfs' | 'ipns'
   response: Response
diff --git a/packages/verified-fetch/test/cache-control-header.spec.ts b/packages/verified-fetch/test/cache-control-header.spec.ts
index 02bb689b..0cfe1268 100644
--- a/packages/verified-fetch/test/cache-control-header.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/verified-fetch/test/cache-control-header.spec.ts
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ describe('cache-control header', () => {
     const c = dagCbor(helia)
     const cid = await c.add(obj)
 
-    const oneHourInMs = 1000 * 60 * 60
+    const oneHourInSeconds = 60 * 60
     const peerId = await createEd25519PeerId()
 
     /**
@@ -99,13 +99,13 @@ describe('cache-control header', () => {
      * @see https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipns/blob/16e0e10682fa9a663e0bb493a44d3e99a5200944/src/index.ts#L200
      * @see https://github.com/ipfs/js-ipns/pull/308
      */
-    await name.publish(peerId, cid, { lifetime: oneHourInMs })
+    await name.publish(peerId, cid, { lifetime: oneHourInSeconds * 1000 }) // pass to ipns as milliseconds
 
     const resp = await verifiedFetch.fetch(`ipns://${peerId}`)
     expect(resp).to.be.ok()
     expect(resp.status).to.equal(200)
 
-    expect(resp.headers.get('Cache-Control')).to.equal(`public, max-age=${oneHourInMs}`)
+    expect(resp.headers.get('Cache-Control')).to.equal(`public, max-age=${oneHourInSeconds}`)
   })
 
   it('should not contain immutable in the cache-control header for a DNSLink name', async () => {