diff --git a/includes/EmailBatch.php b/includes/EmailBatch.php
index 69c0f9e2a..e307c0f66 100644
--- a/includes/EmailBatch.php
+++ b/includes/EmailBatch.php
@@ -339,7 +339,7 @@ class MWEchoEmailBatch {
 		$res = $dbr->select(
 			array( 'echo_email_batch' ),
 			array( 'eeb_user_id' ),
-			array( 'eeb_user_id > ' . $startUserId  ),
+			array( 'eeb_user_id > ' . intval( $startUserId )  ),
 			__METHOD__,
 			array( 'ORDER BY' => 'eeb_user_id', 'LIMIT' => $batchSize )
 		);