diff --git a/backend/src/templateFormatter.ts b/backend/src/templateFormatter.ts
index 9e5e7856..142576f4 100644
--- a/backend/src/templateFormatter.ts
+++ b/backend/src/templateFormatter.ts
@@ -419,6 +419,7 @@ const baseValues = {
   },
   round(arg, decimals = 0) {
     if (isNaN(arg)) return 0;
+    if (typeof arg !== "number") arg = parseFloat(arg); // should be safe since we check above if it's not a number
     return decimals === 0 ? Math.round(arg) : arg.toFixed(decimals);
   },
   floor(arg) {