Index: /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/dialogs/SelectionListDialog.java
===================================================================
--- /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/dialogs/SelectionListDialog.java	(revision 5715)
+++ /trunk/src/org/openstreetmap/josm/gui/dialogs/SelectionListDialog.java	(revision 5716)
@@ -594,5 +594,6 @@
             // Compute total length of selected way(s) until an arbitrary limit set to 250 ways
             // in order to prevent performance issue if a large number of ways are selected (old behaviour kept in that case, see #8403)
-            if (!ways.isEmpty() && ways.size() < 250) {
+            int maxWays = Math.max(1, Main.pref.getInteger("selection.max-ways-for-statusline", 250));
+            if (!ways.isEmpty() && ways.size() <= maxWays) {
                 for (Way w : ways) {
                     dist += w.getLength();