Let β be an arbitrary limit ordinal. A β-r.e. set is l-finite iff all its β-r.e. subsets are β-recursive. The l-finite sets correspond to the ideal of finite sets in the lattice of r.e. sets. We give a characterization of l-finite sets in terms of their ordertype: a β-r.e. set is l-finite iff it has ordertype less than β * , the Σ 1 projectum of β.