diff --git a/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py b/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py
index 12388f4de80..676b227f35a 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/proxy_cli.py
@@ -905,19 +905,19 @@ def run_server(  # noqa: PLR0915
                 database_url = construct_database_url_from_env_vars()
                 if database_url:
                     os.environ["DATABASE_URL"] = database_url
-            db_connection_pool_limit = int(
-                general_settings.get(
-                    "database_connection_pool_limit",
-                    LiteLLMDatabaseConnectionPool.database_connection_pool_limit.value,
-                )
+            db_connection_pool_limit = general_settings.get(
+                "database_connection_pool_limit",
+                LiteLLMDatabaseConnectionPool.database_connection_pool_limit.value,
             )
             db_connection_timeout = general_settings.get("database_connection_timeout")
             if db_connection_timeout is None:
                 db_connection_timeout = general_settings.get(
-                    "database_connection_pool_timeout",
-                    LiteLLMDatabaseConnectionPool.database_connection_pool_timeout.value,
+                    "database_connection_pool_timeout"
+                )
+            if db_connection_timeout is None:
+                db_connection_timeout = (
+                    LiteLLMDatabaseConnectionPool.database_connection_pool_timeout.value
                 )
-            db_connection_timeout = int(db_connection_timeout)
             if database_url and database_url.startswith("os.environ/"):
                 original_dir = os.getcwd()
                 # set the working directory to where this script is