diff --git a/ceilometer/storage/sqlalchemy/models.py b/ceilometer/storage/sqlalchemy/models.py
index 953dcaa9d..2245b7fe4 100644
--- a/ceilometer/storage/sqlalchemy/models.py
+++ b/ceilometer/storage/sqlalchemy/models.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import ceilometer.openstack.common.cfg as cfg
 from ceilometer.openstack.common import timeutils
 
 sql_opts = [
-    cfg.IntOpt('mysql_engine',
+    cfg.StrOpt('mysql_engine',
                default='InnoDB',
                help='MySQL engine')
            ]