diff --git a/src/Add.hs b/src/Add.hs
index 50b9937..dc33ef1 100644
--- a/src/Add.hs
+++ b/src/Add.hs
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ import System.Unix.Directory
 -- {{{1 types
 data PkgType
     = GhcType String Version
-    | DistroType String Version String
+    | DistroType String Version Int
     | RepoType GenericPackageDescription
     deriving (Eq, Show)
 
diff --git a/src/ConvertDB.hs b/src/ConvertDB.hs
index c5b1a3e..bbb10cb 100644
--- a/src/ConvertDB.hs
+++ b/src/ConvertDB.hs
@@ -46,4 +46,4 @@ doConvertDB = map doConvert
                 x = 0
                 d = ODB.pkgDeps o
                 f = ODB.pkgFlags o
-                r = ODB.pkgRelease o
+                r = read $ ODB.pkgRelease o
diff --git a/src/ListPkgs.hs b/src/ListPkgs.hs
index 86ed018..5233f2b 100644
--- a/src/ListPkgs.hs
+++ b/src/ListPkgs.hs
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ pkgFilter g d r p = (g && isGhcPkg p) || (d && isDistroPkg p) || (not r && isRep
 
 printCblPkgShort :: CblPkg -> IO ()
 printCblPkgShort p =
-    putStrLn $ pkgName p ++ "  " ++ display (pkgVersion p) ++ "-" ++ pkgRelease p ++ showFlagsIfPresent p
+    putStrLn $ pkgName p ++ "  " ++ display (pkgVersion p) ++ "-" ++ pkgReleaseAsStr p ++ showFlagsIfPresent p
         where
             showFlagsIfPresent _p
                 | [] <- pkgFlags _p = ""
diff --git a/src/PkgDB.hs b/src/PkgDB.hs
index f1caf48..841f8e7 100644
--- a/src/PkgDB.hs
+++ b/src/PkgDB.hs
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ module PkgDB
     , pkgDeps
     , pkgFlags
     , pkgRelease
+    , pkgReleaseAsStr
     --
     , isGhcPkg
     , isDistroPkg
@@ -69,8 +70,8 @@ import qualified Util.Dist
 -- {{{1 types
 data Pkg
     = GhcPkg { version :: V.Version }
-    | DistroPkg { version :: V.Version, release :: String }
-    | RepoPkg { version :: V.Version, xrev :: Int, deps :: [P.Dependency], flags :: FlagAssignment, release :: String }
+    | DistroPkg { version :: V.Version, release :: Int }
+    | RepoPkg { version :: V.Version, xrev :: Int, deps :: [P.Dependency], flags :: FlagAssignment, release :: Int }
     deriving (Eq, Show)
 
 data CblPkg = CP String Pkg
@@ -120,22 +121,27 @@ pkgFlags :: CblPkg -> FlagAssignment
 pkgFlags (CP _ RepoPkg { flags = fa}) = fa
 pkgFlags _ = []
 
-pkgRelease :: CblPkg -> String
-pkgRelease (CP _ GhcPkg {}) = "xx"
+pkgRelease :: CblPkg -> Int
+pkgRelease (CP _ GhcPkg {}) = (-1)
 pkgRelease (CP _ DistroPkg { release = r }) = r
 pkgRelease (CP _ RepoPkg { release = r }) = r
 
+pkgReleaseAsStr :: CblPkg -> String
+pkgReleaseAsStr (CP _ GhcPkg {}) = "xx"
+pkgReleaseAsStr (CP _ DistroPkg { release = r }) = show r
+pkgReleaseAsStr (CP _ RepoPkg { release = r }) = show r
+
 createGhcPkg :: String -> V.Version -> CblPkg
 createGhcPkg n v = CP n (GhcPkg v)
 
-createDistroPkg :: String -> V.Version -> String -> CblPkg
+createDistroPkg :: String -> V.Version -> Int -> CblPkg
 createDistroPkg n v r = CP n (DistroPkg v r)
 
-createRepoPkg :: String -> V.Version -> Int -> [P.Dependency] -> FlagAssignment -> String -> CblPkg
+createRepoPkg :: String -> V.Version -> Int -> [P.Dependency] -> FlagAssignment -> Int -> CblPkg
 createRepoPkg n v x d fa r = CP n (RepoPkg v x d fa r)
 
 createCblPkg :: PackageDescription -> FlagAssignment -> CblPkg
-createCblPkg pd fa = createRepoPkg name version xrev deps fa "1"
+createCblPkg pd fa = createRepoPkg name version xrev deps fa 1
     where
         name = Util.Dist.pkgNameStr pd
         version = P.pkgVersion $ package pd
@@ -176,7 +182,7 @@ addPkg2 db (CP n p) = addPkg db n p
 addGhcPkg :: CblDB -> String -> V.Version -> CblDB
 addGhcPkg db n v = addPkg2 db (createGhcPkg n v)
 
-addDistroPkg :: CblDB -> String -> V.Version -> String -> CblDB
+addDistroPkg :: CblDB -> String -> V.Version -> Int -> CblDB
 addDistroPkg db n v r = addPkg2 db (createDistroPkg n v r)
 
 delPkg :: CblDB -> String -> CblDB
@@ -185,9 +191,7 @@ delPkg db n = filter (\ p -> n /= pkgName p) db
 bumpRelease :: CblDB -> String -> CblDB
 bumpRelease db n = maybe db (addPkg2 db . doBump) (lookupPkg db n)
     where
-        doBump (CP n' p@RepoPkg { release = r }) = CP n' (p { release = nr })
-            where
-                nr = show $ read r + (1 :: Int)
+        doBump (CP n' p@RepoPkg { release = r }) = CP n' (p { release = r + 1 })
         doBump p = p
 
 lookupPkg :: CblDB -> String -> Maybe CblPkg
diff --git a/src/Util/Misc.hs b/src/Util/Misc.hs
index b4a9aa4..b1017fc 100644
--- a/src/Util/Misc.hs
+++ b/src/Util/Misc.hs
@@ -100,13 +100,13 @@ pkgNVersionArgReader = do
 ghcPkgArgReader :: ReadM (String, Version)
 ghcPkgArgReader = pkgNVersionArgReader
 
-distroPkgArgReader :: ReadM (String, Version, String)
+distroPkgArgReader :: ReadM (String, Version, Int)
 distroPkgArgReader = let
         readDistroPkg = do
             (n, v) <- readPkgNVersion
             char ','
             r <- many (satisfy (/= ','))
-            return (n, v, r)
+            return (n, v, read r)
 
     in do
         s <- readerAsk
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ strCblPkgArgReader = let
 data Cmds
     = CmdAdd
         { patchDir :: FilePath, ghcVer :: Version, cmdAddGhcPkgs :: [(String, Version)]
-        , cmdAddDistroPkgs :: [(String, Version, String)], cmdAddFileCbls :: [(FilePath, FlagAssignment)]
+        , cmdAddDistroPkgs :: [(String, Version, Int)], cmdAddFileCbls :: [(FilePath, FlagAssignment)]
         , cmdAddCbls :: [(String, Version, FlagAssignment)] }
     | CmdBuildPkgs { pkgs :: [String] }
     | CmdBumpPkgs { inclusive :: Bool, pkgs :: [String] }
diff --git a/src/Util/Translation.hs b/src/Util/Translation.hs
index 8312a72..0974c7d 100644
--- a/src/Util/Translation.hs
+++ b/src/Util/Translation.hs
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ translate ghcVer ghcRel db fa pd = let
         ap = baseArchPkg
         (PackageName hkgName) = packageName pd
         pkgVer = packageVersion pd
-        pkgRel = maybe "1" pkgRelease (lookupPkg db hkgName)
+        pkgRel = show $ maybe 1 pkgRelease (lookupPkg db hkgName)
         hasLib = isJust (library pd)
         licFn = let l = licenseFiles pd in if null l then Nothing else Just (head l)
         archName = (if hasLib then "haskell-" else "") ++ map toLower hkgName
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ calcExactDeps db pd = let
                 pkg = fromJust $ lookupPkg db n
                 name = map toLower $ DB.pkgName pkg
                 ver = display $ DB.pkgVersion pkg
-                rel = pkgRelease pkg
+                rel = show $ pkgRelease pkg
             in "haskell-" ++ name ++ "=" ++ ver ++ "-" ++ rel
     in map depString deps