diff --git a/backend/launcher.py b/backend/launcher.py
index 269433b..5de65ca 100644
--- a/backend/launcher.py
+++ b/backend/launcher.py
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ def uvicorn_run():
     """
     Run the FastAPI application using uvicorn
     """
-    num_workers = os.getenv('NUM_WORKERS', 1)
+    num_workers = int(os.getenv('NUM_WORKERS', 1))
     logger.info(f"Starting FastAPI+uvicorn with {num_workers=}, {is_debug=}, {is_kubernetes=}")
     uvicorn.run(
         # we could in theory directly import the app and pass it as an object