diff --git a/cli/cfncluster/cfnconfig.py b/cli/cfncluster/cfnconfig.py
index f869c34f6b..d3f6b981a4 100644
--- a/cli/cfncluster/cfnconfig.py
+++ b/cli/cfncluster/cfnconfig.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def __init__(self, args):
 
         # Check if package updates should be checked
         try:
-            self.__update_check = __config.get('global', 'update_check')
+            self.__update_check = __config.getboolean('global', 'update_check')
         except ConfigParser.NoOptionError:
             self.__update_check = True