diff --git a/CHANGES/5861.bugfix b/CHANGES/5861.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1be87b5b62
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES/5861.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+pulp-worker fails to start with "float object cannot be interpreted as an integer" on some versions of python.
diff --git a/pulpcore/tasking/worker.py b/pulpcore/tasking/worker.py
index c22779ef5e..e165f014d5 100644
--- a/pulpcore/tasking/worker.py
+++ b/pulpcore/tasking/worker.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def __init__(self):
         self.worker = self.handle_worker_heartbeat()
         self.task_grace_timeout = 0
         self.worker_cleanup_countdown = random.randint(
-            WORKER_CLEANUP_INTERVAL / 10, WORKER_CLEANUP_INTERVAL
+            int(WORKER_CLEANUP_INTERVAL / 10), WORKER_CLEANUP_INTERVAL
         )
 
         # Add a file descriptor to trigger select on signals