diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index 5b446c3..0140226 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -81,9 +81,13 @@ exports.validateAllocation = function(conf, callback) {
   const self = this;
 
   if (!self._isValidStorageAllocationFormat(conf.storageAllocation)) {
-    return callback(
-      new Error('Invalid storage size specified: '+ conf.storageAllocation)
-    );
+    if (isNaN(conf.storageAllocation)) {
+      return callback(
+        new Error('Invalid storage size specified: '+ conf.storageAllocation)
+      );
+    }
+
+    conf.storageAllocation = conf.storageAllocation.toString() + 'B';
   }
 
   self.getFreeSpace(conf.storagePath, function(err, free) {
@@ -95,7 +99,7 @@ exports.validateAllocation = function(conf, callback) {
       }
 
       if (allocatedSpace > free + usedSpaceBytes) {
-        return callback(new Error('Invalid storage size: '+ 
+        return callback(new Error('Invalid storage size: '+
           -(free + usedSpaceBytes - allocatedSpace) +' bytes missing'));
       }
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3180513..f7eb855 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "storjshare-daemon",
-  "version": "3.5.3",
+  "version": "3.5.4",
   "description": "daemon + process manager for sharing space on the storj network",
   "main": "index.js",
   "bin": {