diff --git a/lib/puppet/type/rabbitmq_policy.rb b/lib/puppet/type/rabbitmq_policy.rb
index 794a12455..259a1d66c 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/type/rabbitmq_policy.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/type/rabbitmq_policy.rb
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@
     validate do |value|
       resource.validate_definition(value)
     end
+    munge do |value|
+      resource.munge_definition(value)
+    end
   end
 
   newproperty(:priority) do
@@ -72,21 +75,27 @@ def validate_definition(definition)
         raise ArgumentError, "Invalid definition"
       end
     end
-    # If ha-mode is 'exactly', convert ha-params to integer
     if definition['ha-mode'] == 'exactly'
       ha_params = definition['ha-params']
       unless ha_params.to_i.to_s == ha_params
         raise ArgumentError, "Invalid ha-params '#{ha_params}' for ha-mode 'exactly'"
       end
-      definition['ha-params'] = ha_params.to_i
     end
-
     if definition.key? 'expires'
       expires_val = definition['expires']
       unless expires_val.to_i.to_s == expires_val
         raise ArgumentError, "Invalid expires value '#{expires_val}'"
       end
-      definition['expires'] = expires_val.to_i
     end
   end
+
+  def munge_definition(definition)
+    if definition['ha-mode'] == 'exactly'
+      definition['ha-params'] = definition['ha-params'].to_i
+    end
+    if definition.key? 'expires'
+      definition['expires'] = definition['expires'].to_i
+    end
+    definition
+  end
 end
diff --git a/spec/unit/puppet/type/rabbitmq_policy_spec.rb b/spec/unit/puppet/type/rabbitmq_policy_spec.rb
index bd5e832e3..36bf2a73f 100644
--- a/spec/unit/puppet/type/rabbitmq_policy_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/puppet/type/rabbitmq_policy_spec.rb
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@
     definition = {'ha-mode' => 'exactly', 'ha-params' => '2'}
     @policy[:definition] = definition
     @policy[:definition]['ha-params'].should be_a(Fixnum)
+    @policy[:definition]['ha-params'].should == 2
   end
 
   it 'should not accept non-numeric ha-params for ha-mode exactly' do
@@ -106,6 +107,7 @@
     definition = {'expires' => '1800000'}
     @policy[:definition] = definition
     @policy[:definition]['expires'].should be_a(Fixnum)
+    @policy[:definition]['expires'].should == 1800000
   end
 
   it 'should not accept non-numeric expires value' do