diff --git a/src/cluster.cpp b/src/cluster.cpp
index 965830c0a..256b5cebf 100644
--- a/src/cluster.cpp
+++ b/src/cluster.cpp
@@ -5556,11 +5556,11 @@ try_again:
     for (j = 0; j < num_keys; j++) {
         long long ttl = 0;
         expireEntry *pexpire = getExpire(c->db,kv[j]);
-        long long expireat = -1;
+        long long expireat = INVALID_EXPIRE;
         if (pexpire != nullptr)
             pexpire->FGetPrimaryExpire(&expireat);
 
-        if (expireat != -1) {
+        if (expireat != INVALID_EXPIRE) {
             ttl = expireat-mstime();
             if (ttl < 0) {
                 continue;
diff --git a/src/db.cpp b/src/db.cpp
index c69e19506..2e959cf9c 100644
--- a/src/db.cpp
+++ b/src/db.cpp
@@ -1751,17 +1751,9 @@ int keyIsExpired(redisDb *db, robj *key) {
     /* Don't expire anything while loading. It will be done later. */
     if (g_pserver->loading) return 0;
 
-    long long when = -1;
-    for (auto &exp : *pexpire)
-    {
-        if (exp.subkey() == nullptr)
-        {
-            when = exp.when();
-            break;
-        }
-    }
+    long long when = pexpire->FGetPrimaryExpire();
 
-    if (when == -1)
+    if (when == INVALID_EXPIRE)
         return 0;
 
     /* If we are in the context of a Lua script, we pretend that time is
diff --git a/src/debug.cpp b/src/debug.cpp
index a9614b61e..24dad0cb1 100644
--- a/src/debug.cpp
+++ b/src/debug.cpp
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ void xorObjectDigest(redisDb *db, robj_roptr keyobj, unsigned char *digest, robj
     uint32_t aux = htonl(o->type);
     mixDigest(digest,&aux,sizeof(aux));
     expireEntry *pexpire = getExpire(db,keyobj);
-    long long expiretime = -1;
+    long long expiretime = INVALID_EXPIRE;
     char buf[128];
 
     if (pexpire != nullptr)
@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ void xorObjectDigest(redisDb *db, robj_roptr keyobj, unsigned char *digest, robj
         serverPanic("Unknown object type");
     }
     /* If the key has an expire, add it to the mix */
-    if (expiretime != -1) xorDigest(digest,"!!expire!!",10);
+    if (expiretime != INVALID_EXPIRE) xorDigest(digest,"!!expire!!",10);
 }
 
 /* Compute the dataset digest. Since keys, sets elements, hashes elements
diff --git a/src/expire.cpp b/src/expire.cpp
index 540c6eac7..d7735fbc6 100644
--- a/src/expire.cpp
+++ b/src/expire.cpp
@@ -72,11 +72,12 @@ void activeExpireCycleExpireFullKey(redisDb *db, const char *key) {
  *----------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
 
-void activeExpireCycleExpire(redisDb *db, expireEntry &e, long long now) {
+int activeExpireCycleExpire(redisDb *db, expireEntry &e, long long now, size_t &tried) {
     if (!e.FFat())
     {
         activeExpireCycleExpireFullKey(db, e.key());
-        return;
+        ++tried;
+        return 1;
     }
 
     expireEntryFat *pfat = e.pfatentry();
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@ void activeExpireCycleExpire(redisDb *db, expireEntry &e, long long now) {
 
     while (!pfat->FEmpty())
     {
+        ++tried;
         if (pfat->nextExpireEntry().when > now)
             break;
 
@@ -97,7 +99,7 @@ void activeExpireCycleExpire(redisDb *db, expireEntry &e, long long now) {
         if (pfat->nextExpireEntry().spsubkey == nullptr)
         {
             activeExpireCycleExpireFullKey(db, e.key());
-            return;
+            return ++deleted;
         }
 
         switch (val->type)
@@ -107,7 +109,7 @@ void activeExpireCycleExpire(redisDb *db, expireEntry &e, long long now) {
                 deleted++;
                 if (setTypeSize(val) == 0) {
                     activeExpireCycleExpireFullKey(db, e.key());
-                    return;
+                    return deleted;
                 }
             }
             break;
@@ -117,7 +119,7 @@ void activeExpireCycleExpire(redisDb *db, expireEntry &e, long long now) {
                 deleted++;
                 if (hashTypeLength(val) == 0) {
                     activeExpireCycleExpireFullKey(db, e.key());
-                    return;
+                    return deleted;
                 }
             }
             break;
@@ -127,7 +129,7 @@ void activeExpireCycleExpire(redisDb *db, expireEntry &e, long long now) {
                 deleted++;
                 if (zsetLength(val) == 0) {
                     activeExpireCycleExpireFullKey(db, e.key());
-                    return;
+                    return deleted;
                 }
             }
             break;
@@ -142,7 +144,7 @@ void activeExpireCycleExpire(redisDb *db, expireEntry &e, long long now) {
                 decrRefCount(val);
             }, true /*fLock*/, true /*fForceQueue*/);
         }
-            return;
+            return deleted;
 
         case OBJ_LIST:
         default:
@@ -155,6 +157,9 @@ void activeExpireCycleExpire(redisDb *db, expireEntry &e, long long now) {
         
         pfat->popfrontExpireEntry();
         fTtlChanged = true;
+        if ((tried % ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_SUBKEY_LOOKUPS_PER_LOOP) == 0) {
+            break;
+        }
     }
 
     if (!pfat->FEmpty() && fTtlChanged)
@@ -181,6 +186,7 @@ void activeExpireCycleExpire(redisDb *db, expireEntry &e, long long now) {
     {
         removeExpire(db, &objKey);
     }
+    return deleted;
 }
 
 int parseUnitString(const char *sz)
@@ -392,10 +398,8 @@ void activeExpireCycleCore(int type) {
         db->expireitr = db->setexpire->enumerate(db->expireitr, now, [&](expireEntry &e) __attribute__((always_inline)) {
             if (e.when() < now)
             {
-                activeExpireCycleExpire(db, e, now);
-                ++expired;
+                expired += activeExpireCycleExpire(db, e, now, tried);
             }
-            ++tried;
 
             if ((tried % ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_LOOKUPS_PER_LOOP) == 0)
             {
@@ -503,8 +507,8 @@ void expireSlaveKeys(void) {
                 if (itr != db->setexpire->end())
                 {
                     if (itr->when() < start) {
-                        activeExpireCycleExpire(g_pserver->db+dbid,*itr,start);
-                        expired = 1;
+                        size_t tried = 0;
+                        expired = activeExpireCycleExpire(g_pserver->db+dbid,*itr,start,tried);
                     }
                 }
 
@@ -680,7 +684,7 @@ void pexpireatCommand(client *c) {
 
 /* Implements TTL and PTTL */
 void ttlGenericCommand(client *c, int output_ms) {
-    long long expire = -1, ttl = -1;
+    long long expire = INVALID_EXPIRE, ttl = -1;
 
     /* If the key does not exist at all, return -2 */
     if (lookupKeyReadWithFlags(c->db,c->argv[1],LOOKUP_NOTOUCH) == nullptr) {
@@ -714,7 +718,7 @@ void ttlGenericCommand(client *c, int output_ms) {
     }
 
     
-    if (expire != -1) {
+    if (expire != INVALID_EXPIRE) {
         ttl = expire-mstime();
         if (ttl < 0) ttl = 0;
     }
diff --git a/src/expire.h b/src/expire.h
index 359e2d50b..643e28908 100644
--- a/src/expire.h
+++ b/src/expire.h
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 #pragma once
 
+/* 
+ * INVALID_EXPIRE is the value we set the expireEntry's m_when value to when the main key is not expired and the value we return when we try to get the expire time of a key or subkey that is not expired
+ * Want this value to be LLONG_MAX however we use the most significant bit of m_when as a flag to see if the expireEntry is Fat or not so we want to ensure that it is unset hence the (& ~((1LL) << (sizeof(long long)*CHAR_BIT - 1)))
+ * Eventually this number might actually end up being a valid expire time, this could cause bugs so at that time it might be a good idea to use a larger data type.
+ */
+#define INVALID_EXPIRE (LLONG_MAX & ~((1LL) << (sizeof(long long)*CHAR_BIT - 1)))
+
 class expireEntryFat
 {
     friend class expireEntry;
@@ -47,6 +54,7 @@ public:
     ~expireEntryFat();
 
     long long when() const noexcept { return m_vecexpireEntries.front().when; }
+
     const char *key() const noexcept { return m_keyPrimary; }
 
     bool operator<(long long when) const noexcept { return this->when() <  when; }
@@ -66,7 +74,12 @@ class expireEntry {
         sds m_key;
         expireEntryFat *m_pfatentry;
     } u;
-    long long m_when;   // LLONG_MIN means this is a fat entry and we should use the pointer
+    long long m_when;   // bit wise and with FFatMask means this is a fat entry and we should use the pointer
+
+    /* Mask to check if an entry is Fat, most significant bit of m_when being set means it is Fat otherwise it is not */
+    long long FFatMask() const noexcept {
+        return (1LL) << (sizeof(long long)*CHAR_BIT - 1);
+    }
 
     expireEntry() = default;
 public:
@@ -108,7 +121,7 @@ public:
     {
         if (subkey != nullptr)
         {
-            m_when = LLONG_MIN;
+            m_when = FFatMask() | INVALID_EXPIRE;
             u.m_pfatentry = new (MALLOC_LOCAL) expireEntryFat(key);
             u.m_pfatentry->expireSubKey(subkey, when);
         }
@@ -122,7 +135,15 @@ public:
     expireEntry(expireEntryFat *pfatentry)
     {
         u.m_pfatentry = pfatentry;
-        m_when = LLONG_MIN;
+        m_when = FFatMask() | INVALID_EXPIRE;
+        for (auto itr : *this)
+        {
+            if (itr.subkey() == nullptr)
+            {
+                m_when = FFatMask() | itr.when();
+                break;
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     expireEntry(expireEntry &&e)
@@ -159,7 +180,7 @@ public:
             u.m_key = key;
     }
 
-    inline bool FFat() const noexcept { return m_when == LLONG_MIN; }
+    inline bool FFat() const noexcept { return m_when & FFatMask(); }
     expireEntryFat *pfatentry() { assert(FFat()); return u.m_pfatentry; }
 
 
@@ -187,7 +208,7 @@ public:
     { 
         if (FFat())
             return u.m_pfatentry->when();
-        return m_when; 
+        return FGetPrimaryExpire();
     }
 
     void update(const char *subkey, long long when)
@@ -204,12 +225,14 @@ public:
                 // we have to upgrade to a fat entry
                 long long whenT = m_when;
                 sds keyPrimary = u.m_key;
-                m_when = LLONG_MIN;
+                m_when |= FFatMask();
                 u.m_pfatentry = new (MALLOC_LOCAL) expireEntryFat(keyPrimary);
                 u.m_pfatentry->expireSubKey(nullptr, whenT);
                 // at this point we're fat so fall through
             }
         }
+        if (subkey == nullptr)
+            m_when = when | FFatMask();
         u.m_pfatentry->expireSubKey(subkey, when);
     }
     
@@ -229,18 +252,15 @@ public:
             pfatentry()->m_vecexpireEntries.begin() + itr.m_idx);
     }
 
-    bool FGetPrimaryExpire(long long *pwhen)
-    {
-        *pwhen = -1;
-        for (auto itr : *this)
-        {
-            if (itr.subkey() == nullptr)
-            {
-                *pwhen = itr.when();
-                return true;
-            }
-        }
-        return false;
+    long long FGetPrimaryExpire() const noexcept
+    { 
+        return m_when & (~FFatMask()); 
+    }
+
+    bool FGetPrimaryExpire(long long *pwhen) const noexcept
+    { 
+        *pwhen = FGetPrimaryExpire();
+        return *pwhen != INVALID_EXPIRE;
     }
 
     explicit operator const char*() const noexcept { return key(); }
diff --git a/src/module.cpp b/src/module.cpp
index ccf5354c3..b4b99fac6 100644
--- a/src/module.cpp
+++ b/src/module.cpp
@@ -2446,11 +2446,11 @@ int RM_UnlinkKey(RedisModuleKey *key) {
  * REDISMODULE_NO_EXPIRE is returned. */
 mstime_t RM_GetExpire(RedisModuleKey *key) {
     expireEntry *pexpire = getExpire(key->db,key->key);
-    mstime_t expire = -1;
+    mstime_t expire = INVALID_EXPIRE;
     if (pexpire != nullptr)
         pexpire->FGetPrimaryExpire(&expire);
     
-    if (expire == -1 || key->value == NULL)
+    if (expire == INVALID_EXPIRE || key->value == NULL)
         return REDISMODULE_NO_EXPIRE;
     expire -= mstime();
     return expire >= 0 ? expire : 0;
diff --git a/src/rdb.cpp b/src/rdb.cpp
index 3d954592a..577917831 100644
--- a/src/rdb.cpp
+++ b/src/rdb.cpp
@@ -1124,7 +1124,7 @@ int rdbSaveKeyValuePair(rio *rdb, robj *key, robj *val, expireEntry *pexpire) {
     int savelfu = g_pserver->maxmemory_policy & MAXMEMORY_FLAG_LFU;
 
     /* Save the expire time */
-    long long expiretime = -1;
+    long long expiretime = INVALID_EXPIRE;
     if (pexpire != nullptr && pexpire->FGetPrimaryExpire(&expiretime)) {
         if (rdbSaveType(rdb,RDB_OPCODE_EXPIRETIME_MS) == -1) return -1;
         if (rdbSaveMillisecondTime(rdb,expiretime) == -1) return -1;
diff --git a/src/server.h b/src/server.h
index 97b66c605..399bd4fb7 100644
--- a/src/server.h
+++ b/src/server.h
@@ -306,6 +306,7 @@ inline bool operator!=(const void *p, const robj_sharedptr &rhs)
 #define CONFIG_DEFAULT_ENABLE_MULTIMASTER 0
 
 #define ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_LOOKUPS_PER_LOOP 64 /* Loopkups per loop. */
+#define ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_SUBKEY_LOOKUPS_PER_LOOP 16384 /* Subkey loopkups per loop. */
 #define ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_FAST_DURATION 1000 /* Microseconds */
 #define ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_SLOW_TIME_PERC 25 /* CPU max % for keys collection */
 #define ACTIVE_EXPIRE_CYCLE_SLOW 0