diff --git a/reader_concurrency_semaphore.hh b/reader_concurrency_semaphore.hh
index 5b721963e4..a364117201 100644
--- a/reader_concurrency_semaphore.hh
+++ b/reader_concurrency_semaphore.hh
@@ -179,8 +179,10 @@ private:
         signal(resources(0, static_cast<ssize_t>(memory)));
     }
 public:
-    reader_concurrency_semaphore(unsigned count,
-            size_t memory,
+    struct no_limits { };
+
+    reader_concurrency_semaphore(int count,
+            ssize_t memory,
             size_t max_queue_length = std::numeric_limits<size_t>::max(),
             std::function<std::exception_ptr()> raise_queue_overloaded_exception = default_make_queue_overloaded_exception)
         : _resources(count, memory)
@@ -188,6 +190,13 @@ public:
         , _make_queue_overloaded_exception(raise_queue_overloaded_exception) {
     }
 
+    /// Create a semaphore with practically unlimited count and memory.
+    ///
+    /// And conversely, no queue limit either.
+    explicit reader_concurrency_semaphore(no_limits)
+        : reader_concurrency_semaphore(std::numeric_limits<int>::max(), std::numeric_limits<ssize_t>::max()) {
+    }
+
     reader_concurrency_semaphore(const reader_concurrency_semaphore&) = delete;
     reader_concurrency_semaphore& operator=(const reader_concurrency_semaphore&) = delete;
 
diff --git a/tests/querier_cache.cc b/tests/querier_cache.cc
index f7a3e06b59..5a9e04a9d1 100644
--- a/tests/querier_cache.cc
+++ b/tests/querier_cache.cc
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ public:
     };
 
     test_querier_cache(const noncopyable_function<sstring(size_t)>& external_make_value, std::chrono::seconds entry_ttl = 24h, size_t cache_size = 100000)
-        : _sem(std::numeric_limits<unsigned>::max(), std::numeric_limits<size_t>::max())
+        : _sem(reader_concurrency_semaphore::no_limits{})
         , _cache(_sem, cache_size, entry_ttl)
         , _mutations(make_mutations(_s, external_make_value))
         , _mutation_source([this] (schema_ptr, const dht::partition_range& range) {