diff --git a/lib/memcached.js b/lib/memcached.js
index a8fbde9..a5fc04a 100644
--- a/lib/memcached.js
+++ b/lib/memcached.js
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ Client.config = {
     , BUFFER = 1E2
     , CONTINUE = 1E1
     , FLAG_JSON = 1<<1
-    , FLAG_BINARY = 2<<1;
+    , FLAG_BINARY = 1<<2
+    , FLAG_NUMERIC = 1<<3;
 
   var memcached = nMemcached.prototype = new EventEmitter
     , privates = {}
@@ -411,6 +412,9 @@ Client.config = {
         case FLAG_JSON:
           dataSet = JSON.parse(dataSet);
           break;
+        case FLAG_NUMERIC:
+          dataSet = +dataSet;
+          break;
         case FLAG_BINARY:
           tmp = new Buffer(dataSet.length);
           tmp.write(dataSet, 0, 'binary');
@@ -739,11 +743,12 @@ Client.config = {
     if (Buffer.isBuffer(value)) {
       flag = FLAG_BINARY;
       value = value.toString('binary');
-    } else if (valuetype !== 'string' && valuetype !== 'number') {
+    } else if (valuetype === 'number') {
+      flag = FLAG_NUMERIC;
+      value = value.toString();
+    } else if (valuetype !== 'string') {
       flag = FLAG_JSON;
       value = JSON.stringify(value);
-    } else {
-      value = value.toString();
     }
 
     length = Buffer.byteLength(value);
diff --git a/tests/memcached-get-set.test.js b/tests/memcached-get-set.test.js
index 68380f8..27b885a 100644
--- a/tests/memcached-get-set.test.js
+++ b/tests/memcached-get-set.test.js
@@ -150,8 +150,8 @@ describe("Memcached GET SET", function() {
 	        
 	        assert.ok(!error);
 	        
-	        assert.ok(typeof answer === 'string');
-	        answer.should.eql(answer);
+	        assert.ok(typeof answer === 'number');
+	        answer.should.eql(message);
 	        
 	        memcached.end(); // close connections
 	        assert.equal(callbacks, 2);