diff --git a/dbt/contracts/connection.py b/dbt/contracts/connection.py
index 27a5317c511..6a45c56c214 100644
--- a/dbt/contracts/connection.py
+++ b/dbt/contracts/connection.py
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
     Required('host'): basestring,
     Required('user'): basestring,
     Required('pass'): basestring,
-    Required('port'): All(int, Range(min=0, max=65535)),
+    Required('port'): Any(All(int, Range(min=0, max=65535)), str),
     Required('schema'): basestring,
 })