diff --git a/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go b/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
index 1eb173d7c9e6f8e59d9d17c3eac5a26987a7defa..effcf62d087c2dd62d63cb820ca5258b574aef2c 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ type (
 		Namespace   string            `toml:"namespace"`
 		Metrics     []*Metric         `toml:"metrics"`
 		CacheTTL    internal.Duration `toml:"cache_ttl"`
-		RateLimit   string            `toml:"ratelimit"`
+		RateLimit   int               `toml:"ratelimit"`
 		client      cloudwatchClient
 		metricCache *MetricCache
 	}