diff --git a/src/riak_kv_wterl_backend.erl b/src/riak_kv_wterl_backend.erl
index e88a9d5..849621e 100644
--- a/src/riak_kv_wterl_backend.erl
+++ b/src/riak_kv_wterl_backend.erl
@@ -561,8 +561,10 @@ size_cache(RequestedSize) ->
                 application:set_env(wterl, cache_size, FinalGuess),
                 lager:info("Using cache size of ~p for WiredTiger storage backend.", [FinalGuess]),
                 FinalGuess;
-            Value ->
-                Value
+            Value when is_list(Value) ->
+                Value;
+            Value when is_number(Value) ->
+                integer_to_list(Value)
         end,
     Size.
 
diff --git a/src/wterl.erl b/src/wterl.erl
index 61ffa89..dc19fd5 100644
--- a/src/wterl.erl
+++ b/src/wterl.erl
@@ -320,12 +320,22 @@ config_encode(config, Value) ->
     list_to_binary(["(", config_to_bin(Value, []), ")"]);
 config_encode(list, Value) ->
     list_to_binary(["(", string:join(Value, ","), ")"]);
-config_encode(string, Value) ->
+config_encode(string, Value) when is_list(Value) ->
     list_to_binary(Value);
+config_encode(string, Value) when is_number(Value) ->
+    list_to_binary(integer_to_list(Value));
 config_encode(bool, true) ->
     <<"true">>;
+config_encode(bool, Value) when is_number(Value) andalso Value =/= 0 ->
+    <<"true">>;
+config_encode(bool, "true") ->
+    <<"true">>;
 config_encode(bool, false) ->
     <<"false">>;
+config_encode(bool, 0) ->
+    <<"false">>;
+config_encode(bool, "false") ->
+    <<"false">>;
 config_encode(_Type, _Value) ->
     invalid.