diff --git a/conf.c b/conf.c
index e29b6a9..6b3dafd 100644
--- a/conf.c
+++ b/conf.c
@@ -156,9 +156,12 @@ static void conf_ports(const struct ctx *c, char optname, const char *optarg,
 			die("'all' port forwarding is only allowed for passt");
 
 		fwd->mode = FWD_ALL;
-		memset(fwd->map, 0xff, PORT_EPHEMERAL_MIN / 8);
 
-		for (i = 0; i < PORT_EPHEMERAL_MIN; i++) {
+		for (i = 0; i < NUM_PORTS; i++) {
+			if (fwd_port_is_ephemeral(i))
+				continue;
+
+			bitmap_set(fwd->map, i);
 			if (optname == 't') {
 				ret = tcp_sock_init(c, AF_UNSPEC, NULL, NULL,
 						    i);
@@ -259,8 +262,9 @@ static void conf_ports(const struct ctx *c, char optname, const char *optarg,
 	} while ((p = next_chunk(p, ',')));
 
 	if (exclude_only) {
-		for (i = 0; i < PORT_EPHEMERAL_MIN; i++) {
-			if (bitmap_isset(exclude, i))
+		for (i = 0; i < NUM_PORTS; i++) {
+			if (fwd_port_is_ephemeral(i) ||
+			    bitmap_isset(exclude, i))
 				continue;
 
 			bitmap_set(fwd->map, i);
diff --git a/fwd.c b/fwd.c
index 2a0452f..8fa312a 100644
--- a/fwd.c
+++ b/fwd.c
@@ -27,6 +27,23 @@
 #include "lineread.h"
 #include "flow_table.h"
 
+/* Empheral port range: values from RFC 6335 */
+static const in_port_t fwd_ephemeral_min = (1 << 15) + (1 << 14);
+static const in_port_t fwd_ephemeral_max = NUM_PORTS - 1;
+
+/**
+ * fwd_port_is_ephemeral() - Is port number ephemeral?
+ * @port:	Port number
+ *
+ * Return: true if @port is ephemeral, that is may be allocated by the kernel as
+ *         a local port for outgoing connections or datagrams, but should not be
+ *         used for binding services to.
+ */
+bool fwd_port_is_ephemeral(in_port_t port)
+{
+	return (port >= fwd_ephemeral_min) && (port <= fwd_ephemeral_max);
+}
+
 /* See enum in kernel's include/net/tcp_states.h */
 #define UDP_LISTEN	0x07
 #define TCP_LISTEN	0x0a
diff --git a/fwd.h b/fwd.h
index b4aa8d5..99dd66c 100644
--- a/fwd.h
+++ b/fwd.h
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ struct flowside;
 /* Number of ports for both TCP and UDP */
 #define	NUM_PORTS	(1U << 16)
 
+bool fwd_port_is_ephemeral(in_port_t port);
+
 enum fwd_ports_mode {
 	FWD_UNSET = 0,
 	FWD_SPEC = 1,
diff --git a/util.h b/util.h
index 1463c92..c7a59d5 100644
--- a/util.h
+++ b/util.h
@@ -95,9 +95,6 @@
 #define FD_PROTO(x, proto)						\
 	(IN_INTERVAL(c->proto.fd_min, c->proto.fd_max, (x)))
 
-#define PORT_EPHEMERAL_MIN	((1 << 15) + (1 << 14))		/* RFC 6335 */
-#define PORT_IS_EPHEMERAL(port) ((port) >= PORT_EPHEMERAL_MIN)
-
 #define MAC_ZERO		((uint8_t [ETH_ALEN]){ 0 })
 #define MAC_IS_ZERO(addr)	(!memcmp((addr), MAC_ZERO, ETH_ALEN))