diff --git a/common-tools/clas-utils/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/options/OptionValue.java b/common-tools/clas-utils/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/options/OptionValue.java
index 419394c95e..de33a6db09 100644
--- a/common-tools/clas-utils/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/options/OptionValue.java
+++ b/common-tools/clas-utils/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/options/OptionValue.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package org.jlab.utils.options;
 
+import java.util.HexFormat;
 import java.util.List;
 
 /**
@@ -28,9 +29,13 @@ public OptionValue() { }
     public String  getDefault() { return this.optionDefault;}
     
     public int     intValue()     { return Integer.parseInt(this.optionValue);}
-    public long    longValue()    { return Long.parseLong(this.optionValue);}
     public double  doubleValue()  { return Double.parseDouble(this.optionValue);}
     public String  stringValue()  { return this.optionValue;}
+    public long    longValue()    {
+        if (this.optionValue.startsWith("0x")) 
+            return HexFormat.fromHexDigitsToLong(this.optionValue.substring(2));
+        return Long.parseLong(this.optionValue);
+    }
     
     private int getOptionIndex(List<String> options){
         for(int i = 0; i < options.size(); i++){