diff --git a/adapter/vfd/H5FDhermes.c b/adapter/vfd/H5FDhermes.c
index 2e2e6c790..966c016b1 100644
--- a/adapter/vfd/H5FDhermes.c
+++ b/adapter/vfd/H5FDhermes.c
@@ -408,9 +408,7 @@ H5FD__hermes_open(const char *name, unsigned flags, hid_t fapl_id,
     char* token = strtok_r(config_str_buf, " ", &saveptr);
     if (!strcmp(token, "true") || !strcmp(token, "TRUE") ||
         !strcmp(token, "True")) {
-      new_fa.persistence = 1;
-    } else {
-      new_fa.persistence = 0;
+      new_fa.persistence = true;
     }
     token = strtok_r(0, " ", &saveptr);
     sscanf(token, "%zu", &(new_fa.page_size));