diff --git a/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral b/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral
index 6584c0f3582aa9095394624a5026d79f2317ce29..80b5d455b66f95e31602f7f55d79c4d5aa069e71 100755
--- a/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral
+++ b/gstlal-inspiral/bin/gstlal_inspiral
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ import StringIO
 import sys
 import tempfile
 import uuid
+import warnings
 
 import gi
 gi.require_version('Gst', '1.0')
@@ -276,7 +277,7 @@ def parse_command_line():
 	group.add_option("--blind-injections", metavar = "filename", help = "Set the name of an injection file that will be added to the data without saving the sim_inspiral_table or otherwise processing the data differently.  Has the effect of having hidden signals in the input data.  --injections must not be specified in this case")
 	group.add_option("--check-time-stamps", action = "store_true", help = "Turn on time stamp checking")
 	group.add_option("--comment", metavar = "message", help = "Set the string to be recorded in comment and tag columns in various places in the output file (optional).")
-	group.add_option("--fir-stride", metavar = "seconds", type = "int", default = 8, help = "Set the length of the fir filter stride in seconds. default = 8")
+	group.add_option("--fir-stride", metavar = "seconds", type = "float", default = 8, help = "Set the length of the fir filter stride in seconds. default = 8")
 	group.add_option("--job-tag", metavar = "tag", help = "Set the string to identify this job and register the resources it provides on a node.  Should be 4 digits of the form 0001, 0002, etc.;  may not contain \".\" nor \"-\".")
 	group.add_option("--local-frame-caching", action = "store_true", help = "Pre-reads frame data, performs downsampling, and stores to local filespace. ")
 	group.add_option("--nxydump-segment", metavar = "start:stop", default = ":", help = "Set the time interval to dump from nxydump elments (optional).  The default is \":\", i.e. dump all time.")
diff --git a/gstlal-inspiral/python/lloidparts.py b/gstlal-inspiral/python/lloidparts.py
index e286656177f7b760afbe6ca95966a127d00aa63e..448b83e1bc0ef88cb67333065dc9f3c147f0843b 100644
--- a/gstlal-inspiral/python/lloidparts.py
+++ b/gstlal-inspiral/python/lloidparts.py
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ def mkLLOIDbranch(pipeline, src, bank, bank_fragment, (control_snk, control_src)
 	#
 
 	latency = -int(round(bank_fragment.start * bank_fragment.rate))
-	block_stride = fir_stride * bank_fragment.rate
+	block_stride = int(fir_stride * bank_fragment.rate)
 
 	# we figure an fft costs ~5 logN flops where N is duration + block
 	# stride.  Time domain costs N * block_stride. So if block stride is
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ def mkLLOIDhoftToSnrSlices(pipeline, hoftdict, bank, control_snksrc, block_durat
 			# firbank element, and the value here is only
 			# approximate and not tied to the fir bank
 			# parameters so might not work if those change
-			pipeparts.mkqueue(pipeline, hoftdict[bank_fragment.rate], max_size_bytes = 0, max_size_buffers = 0, max_size_time = (1 * fir_stride + int(math.ceil(bank.filter_length))) * Gst.SECOND),
+			pipeparts.mkqueue(pipeline, hoftdict[bank_fragment.rate], max_size_bytes = 0, max_size_buffers = 0, max_size_time = int((1 * fir_stride + int(math.ceil(bank.filter_length))) * Gst.SECOND)),
 			bank,
 			bank_fragment,
 			control_snksrc,