diff --git a/.changelog/4282.txt b/.changelog/4282.txt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f6ce53062d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changelog/4282.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:enhancement
+bigtable: added support for specifying `duration` for `bigtable_gc_policy` to allow durations shorter than a day
+```
diff --git a/google/resource_bigtable_gc_policy.go b/google/resource_bigtable_gc_policy.go
index 1a440268ce3..3c05485780a 100644
--- a/google/resource_bigtable_gc_policy.go
+++ b/google/resource_bigtable_gc_policy.go
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ func resourceBigtableGCPolicy() *schema.Resource {
 				Optional:    true,
 				ForceNew:    true,
 				Description: `GC policy that applies to all cells older than the given age.`,
+				MaxItems:    1,
 				Elem: &schema.Resource{
 					Schema: map[string]*schema.Schema{
 						"days": {
@@ -86,10 +87,9 @@ func resourceBigtableGCPolicy() *schema.Resource {
 				Elem: &schema.Resource{
 					Schema: map[string]*schema.Schema{
 						"number": {
-							Type:         schema.TypeInt,
-							Required:     true,
-							Description:  `Number of version before applying the GC policy.`,
-							ValidateFunc: validation.IntAtLeast(1),
+							Type:        schema.TypeInt,
+							Required:    true,
+							Description: `Number of version before applying the GC policy.`,
 						},
 					},
 				},
diff --git a/website/docs/r/bigtable_gc_policy.html.markdown b/website/docs/r/bigtable_gc_policy.html.markdown
index 8454cb71415..7c6ff3c237c 100644
--- a/website/docs/r/bigtable_gc_policy.html.markdown
+++ b/website/docs/r/bigtable_gc_policy.html.markdown
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ resource "google_bigtable_gc_policy" "policy" {
   column_family = "name"
 
   max_age {
-    duration = "168h" # 7 days
+    duration = "168h"
   }
 }
 ```
@@ -89,9 +89,9 @@ The following arguments are supported:
 
 `max_age` supports the following arguments:
 
-* `days` - (Deprecated) Number of days before applying GC policy.
+* `days` - (Optional, Deprecated in favor of duration) Number of days before applying GC policy.
 
-* `duration` - (Required) Duration before applying GC policy (ex. "8h"). This is required when `days` isn't set
+* `duration` - (Optional) Duration before applying GC policy (ex. "8h"). This is required when `days` isn't set
 
 -----