diff --git a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/Entity/BasicEntityPersister.php b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/Entity/BasicEntityPersister.php
index 8d6ce7e7d..408c41e5b 100644
--- a/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/Entity/BasicEntityPersister.php
+++ b/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Persisters/Entity/BasicEntityPersister.php
@@ -822,7 +822,7 @@ class BasicEntityPersister implements EntityPersister
             ? $this->expandCriteriaParameters($criteria)
             : $this->expandParameters($criteria);
 
-        return $this->conn->executeQuery($sql, $params, $types)->fetchColumn();
+        return (int) $this->conn->executeQuery($sql, $params, $types)->fetchColumn();
     }
 
     /**