diff --git a/sdks/java/core/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/util/IntervalBoundedExponentialBackOff.java b/sdks/java/core/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/util/IntervalBoundedExponentialBackOff.java
index 51ff9f2fbea7..206c83b12259 100644
--- a/sdks/java/core/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/util/IntervalBoundedExponentialBackOff.java
+++ b/sdks/java/core/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/util/IntervalBoundedExponentialBackOff.java
@@ -54,6 +54,12 @@ public class IntervalBoundedExponentialBackOff implements BackOff {
   private final long initialIntervalMillis;
   private int currentAttempt;
 
+  // BEAM-168: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/BEAM-168
+  @Deprecated
+  public IntervalBoundedExponentialBackOff(int maximumIntervalMillis, long initialIntervalMillis) {
+    this((long) maximumIntervalMillis, initialIntervalMillis);
+  }
+
   public IntervalBoundedExponentialBackOff(long maximumIntervalMillis, long initialIntervalMillis) {
     Preconditions.checkArgument(
         maximumIntervalMillis > 0, "Maximum interval must be greater than zero.");