diff --git a/src/M6Web/Component/Statsd/MessageEntity.php b/src/M6Web/Component/Statsd/MessageEntity.php
index 5d75029..77e7f81 100644
--- a/src/M6Web/Component/Statsd/MessageEntity.php
+++ b/src/M6Web/Component/Statsd/MessageEntity.php
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ protected function checkConstructor()
             throw new Exception('node and unit have to be a string');
         }
 
-        if (!is_int(intval($this->value))) {
-            throw new Exception('value has to be an integer');
+        if (!is_int($this->value) || !is_string($this->value)) {
+            throw new Exception('value has to be an integer or a string');
         }
 
         if (!is_float($this->sampleRate) or ($this->sampleRate <= 0)) {