diff --git a/birdnet-pi/rootfs/helpers/birdnet_to_mqtt.py b/birdnet-pi/rootfs/helpers/birdnet_to_mqtt.py
index 79c699d72..249149ad3 100644
--- a/birdnet-pi/rootfs/helpers/birdnet_to_mqtt.py
+++ b/birdnet-pi/rootfs/helpers/birdnet_to_mqtt.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ settings_dict = dict(conf)
 mqtt_server = "%%mqtt_server%%"
 mqtt_user = "%%mqtt_user%%"
 mqtt_pass = "%%mqtt_pass%%"
-mqtt_port = %%mqtt_port%%
+mqtt_port = "%%mqtt_port%%"
 mqtt_topic = 'birdnet'
 bird_lookup_url_base = 'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'