diff --git a/src/engine/objects/ItemTemplate.java b/src/engine/objects/ItemTemplate.java
index e70be021..3df9b590 100644
--- a/src/engine/objects/ItemTemplate.java
+++ b/src/engine/objects/ItemTemplate.java
@@ -546,8 +546,8 @@ public class ItemTemplate {
                 JSONObject rune_sparse_json = jsonObject.getJSONObject("rune_sparse_data");
 
                 for (String sparseType : rune_sparse_json.keySet()) {
-                    String sparseValue = rune_sparse_json.getString(sparseType);
-                    rune_sparse_data.put(sparseType, sparseValue);
+                    Object sparseValue = rune_sparse_json.getString(sparseType);
+                    rune_sparse_data.put(sparseType, sparseValue.toString());
                 }
 
                 JSONArray skill_adj_json = (JSONArray) jsonObject.get("rune_skill_adj");