diff --git a/dejacode_toolkit/__init__.py b/dejacode_toolkit/__init__.py
index a7c23cc8..aa246c63 100644
--- a/dejacode_toolkit/__init__.py
+++ b/dejacode_toolkit/__init__.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ def get_settings(var_name, default=None):
     return getenv(var_name) or getattr(settings, var_name, default)
 
 
-REQUESTS_TIMEOUT = get_settings("DEJACODE_INTEGRATION_REQUESTS_TIMEOUT", default=5)
+REQUESTS_TIMEOUT = int(get_settings("DEJACODE_INTEGRATION_REQUESTS_TIMEOUT", default=5))
 
 
 def is_service_available(label, session, url, raise_exceptions):