diff --git a/llamabot.js b/llamabot.js
index 159ccf3..e0910cf 100644
--- a/llamabot.js
+++ b/llamabot.js
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ async function generateResponse(conversation, message) {
             },
             body: JSON.stringify({
               messages: messagesCopy,
-              max_tokens: process.env.MAX_TOKENS // add the max_tokens parameter here
+              max_tokens: Number(process.env.MAX_TOKENS) // add the max_tokens parameter here
             }),
             signal: controller.signal
           });