diff --git a/src/components/bar.cpp b/src/components/bar.cpp
index 9f4ec453..b22e749e 100644
--- a/src/components/bar.cpp
+++ b/src/components/bar.cpp
@@ -137,23 +137,15 @@ bar::bar(connection& conn, signal_emitter& emitter, const config& config, const
   m_opts.locale = m_conf.get(bs, "locale", ""s);
   m_opts.radius = m_conf.get(bs, "radius", m_opts.radius);
 
-  try {
-    auto padding = m_conf.get<decltype(m_opts.padding.left)>(bs, "padding");
-    m_opts.padding.left = padding;
-    m_opts.padding.right = padding;
-  } catch (const key_error& err) {
-    m_opts.padding.left = m_conf.get(bs, "padding-left", m_opts.padding.left);
-    m_opts.padding.right = m_conf.get(bs, "padding-right", m_opts.padding.right);
-  }
+  auto padding = m_conf.get<unsigned int>(bs, "padding", 0U);
+  m_opts.padding.left = padding;
+  m_opts.padding.right = padding;
+  m_opts.padding.left = m_conf.get(bs, "padding-left", padding);
+  m_opts.padding.right = m_conf.get(bs, "padding-right", padding);
 
-  try {
-    auto margin = m_conf.get<decltype(m_opts.padding.left)>(bs, "module-margin");
-    m_opts.module_margin.left = margin;
-    m_opts.module_margin.right = margin;
-  } catch (const key_error& err) {
-    m_opts.module_margin.left = m_conf.get(bs, "module-margin-left", m_opts.module_margin.left);
-    m_opts.module_margin.right = m_conf.get(bs, "module-margin-right", m_opts.module_margin.right);
-  }
+  auto margin = m_conf.get<unsigned int>(bs, "module-margin", 0U);
+  m_opts.module_margin.left = m_conf.get(bs, "module-margin-left", margin);
+  m_opts.module_margin.right = m_conf.get(bs, "module-margin-right", margin);
 
   if (only_initialize_values) {
     return;