diff --git a/lib/galaxy/util/config_templates.py b/lib/galaxy/util/config_templates.py
index 79f0bed52ca9..61c907887f6b 100644
--- a/lib/galaxy/util/config_templates.py
+++ b/lib/galaxy/util/config_templates.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
 
 
 class StrictModel(BaseModel):
-    model_config = ConfigDict(extra="forbid")
+    model_config = ConfigDict(extra="forbid", coerce_numbers_to_str=True)
 
 
 class BaseTemplateVariable(StrictModel):