diff --git a/tasks/postfix.yml b/tasks/postfix.yml
index fac9d42..caa2097 100644
--- a/tasks/postfix.yml
+++ b/tasks/postfix.yml
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
   ansible.builtin.template:
     src: "postfix/conf.d/{{ item.name }}.j2"
     dest: "{{ postfix_conf_dir }}/{{ item.name }}"
-    mode: "{{ item.mode | default(0644) }}"
+    mode: "{{ item.mode | default('0644') }}"
   loop:
     - name: bad_smtp_auth_users
     - name: bogus_mx