diff --git a/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee b/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee
index 426eb3129..6959d4da5 100644
--- a/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/text-editor-spec.coffee
@@ -139,6 +139,15 @@ describe "TextEditor", ->
         expect(editor2.getSoftTabs()).toBe true
         expect(editor2.getEncoding()).toBe 'macroman'
 
+        atom.config.set('editor.tabLength', -1)
+        expect(editor2.getTabLength()).toBe 1
+        atom.config.set('editor.tabLength', 2)
+        expect(editor2.getTabLength()).toBe 2
+        atom.config.set('editor.tabLength', 17)
+        expect(editor2.getTabLength()).toBe 17
+        atom.config.set('editor.tabLength', 128)
+        expect(editor2.getTabLength()).toBe 128
+
     it "uses scoped `core.fileEncoding` values", ->
       editor1 = null
       editor2 = null
diff --git a/src/config-schema.coffee b/src/config-schema.coffee
index 88e00c71d..15e5223b8 100644
--- a/src/config-schema.coffee
+++ b/src/config-schema.coffee
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ module.exports =
       tabLength:
         type: 'integer'
         default: 2
-        enum: [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8]
+        minimum: 1
         description: 'Number of spaces used to represent a tab.'
       softWrap:
         type: 'boolean'