diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 45213619..231bc9a6 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Version 1.99.4 (2012-02-27 08:08:05) stable
+Version 1.99.4 (2012-02-27 08:52:23) stable
diff --git a/gluon/dal.py b/gluon/dal.py
index 41e0728c..a1e83855 100644
--- a/gluon/dal.py
+++ b/gluon/dal.py
@@ -1399,8 +1399,12 @@ class BaseAdapter(ConnectionPool):
         if fieldtype.startswith('list:'):
             if not obj:
                 obj = []
-            if not isinstance(obj, (list, tuple)):
-                obj = [obj]
+            elif not isinstance(obj, (list, tuple)):
+                obj = [int(obj)]
+            elif fieldtype.startswith('list:string'):
+                obj = [str(item) for item in obj]
+            else:
+                obj = [int(item) for item in obj]
         if isinstance(obj, (list, tuple)):
             obj = bar_encode(obj)
         if obj is None: