diff --git a/crayons.py b/crayons.py
index cd79a74..80b99c5 100644
--- a/crayons.py
+++ b/crayons.py
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ class ColoredString(object):
         if not PY3 and isinstance(s, unicode):  # noqa: F821
             self.s = s.encode('utf-8')
         else:
-            self.s = s
+            self.s = str(s)
         self.color = REPLACE_COLORS.get(color, color)
         self.always_color = always_color
         self.bold = bold
diff --git a/test_crayons.py b/test_crayons.py
index fd07d0f..6dc492f 100755
--- a/test_crayons.py
+++ b/test_crayons.py
@@ -8,8 +8,10 @@ print(crayons.red('red string'))
 print('{} white {}'.format(crayons.red('red'), crayons.blue('blue')))
 crayons.disable()
 print('{} white {}'.format(crayons.red('red'), crayons.blue('blue')))
+print('non-string value {!s}'.format(crayons.red(1234)))
 crayons.enable()
 print('{} white {}'.format(crayons.red('red'), crayons.blue('blue')))
+print('non-string value {!s}'.format(crayons.red(1234)))
 print(crayons.red('red string', bold=True))
 print(crayons.yellow('yellow string', bold=True))
 print(crayons.magenta('magenta string', bold=True))