diff --git a/lib/Database.php b/lib/Database.php
index 87a3c56f..68cc43df 100644
--- a/lib/Database.php
+++ b/lib/Database.php
@@ -813,7 +813,8 @@ class Database {
     public function subscriptionList(string $user, $folder = null, bool $recursive = true, int $id = null): Db\Result {
         // validate inputs
         $folder = $this->folderValidateId($user, $folder)['id'];
-        // create a complex query
+        // compile the query
+        $integerType = $this->db->sqlToken("integer");
         $q = new Query(
             "WITH RECURSIVE
             topmost(f_id, top) as (
@@ -834,7 +835,7 @@ class Database {
                 i.url as icon_url,
                 folder, t.top as top_folder, d.name as folder_name, dt.name as top_folder_name,
                 coalesce(s.title, f.title) as title,
-                coalesce((articles - hidden - marked), coalesce(articles,0)) as unread
+                cast(coalesce((articles - hidden - marked), coalesce(articles,0)) as $integerType) as unread -- this cast is required for MySQL for unclear reasons
             from arsse_subscriptions as s
                 join arsse_feeds as f on f.id = s.feed
                 left join topmost as t on t.f_id = s.folder
@@ -2209,13 +2210,14 @@ class Database {
      * @param boolean $includeEmpty Whether to include (true) or supress (false) labels which have no articles assigned to them
      */
     public function labelList(string $user, bool $includeEmpty = true): Db\Result {
+        $integerType = $this->db->sqlToken("integer");
         return $this->db->prepareArray(
             "SELECT * FROM (
                 SELECT
                     id,
                     name,
-                    coalesce(articles - coalesce(hidden, 0), 0) as articles,
-                    coalesce(marked, 0) as \"read\"
+                    cast(coalesce(articles - coalesce(hidden, 0), 0) as $integerType) as articles, -- this cast is required for MySQL for unclear reasons
+                    cast(coalesce(marked, 0) as $integerType) as \"read\" -- this cast is required for MySQL for unclear reasons
                 from arsse_labels
                     left join (
                         SELECT label, sum(assigned) as articles from arsse_label_members group by label
diff --git a/lib/Db/MySQL/Driver.php b/lib/Db/MySQL/Driver.php
index 532d05d3..10bc766d 100644
--- a/lib/Db/MySQL/Driver.php
+++ b/lib/Db/MySQL/Driver.php
@@ -83,6 +83,8 @@ class Driver extends \JKingWeb\Arsse\Db\AbstractDriver {
                 return '"utf8mb4_unicode_ci"';
             case "asc":
                 return "";
+            case "integer":
+                return "signed integer";
             default:
                 return $token;
         }
diff --git a/tests/cases/Db/BaseDriver.php b/tests/cases/Db/BaseDriver.php
index 0999d3a7..fe7f344c 100644
--- a/tests/cases/Db/BaseDriver.php
+++ b/tests/cases/Db/BaseDriver.php
@@ -384,6 +384,7 @@ abstract class BaseDriver extends \JKingWeb\Arsse\Test\AbstractTest {
         $greatest = $this->drv->sqlToken("GrEatESt");
         $nocase = $this->drv->sqlToken("noCASE");
         $like = $this->drv->sqlToken("liKe");
+        $integer = $this->drv->sqlToken("InTEGer");
         $asc = $this->drv->sqlToken("asc");
         $desc = $this->drv->sqlToken("desc");
         $least = $this->drv->sqlToken("leASt");
@@ -394,6 +395,7 @@ abstract class BaseDriver extends \JKingWeb\Arsse\Test\AbstractTest {
         $this->assertSame("Z", $this->drv->query("SELECT $greatest('Z', 'A')")->getValue());
         $this->assertSame("Z", $this->drv->query("SELECT 'Z' collate $nocase")->getValue());
         $this->assertSame("Z", $this->drv->query("SELECT 'Z' where 'Z' $like 'z'")->getValue());
+        $this->assertEquals(1, $this->drv->query("SELECT CAST((1=1) as $integer)")->getValue());
         $this->assertEquals([null, 1, 2], array_column($this->drv->query("SELECT 1 as t union select null as t union select 2 as t order by t $asc")->getAll(), "t"));
         $this->assertEquals([2, 1, null], array_column($this->drv->query("SELECT 1 as t union select null as t union select 2 as t order by t $desc")->getAll(), "t"));
     }
diff --git a/tests/lib/AbstractTest.php b/tests/lib/AbstractTest.php
index d352bd6d..a22913df 100644
--- a/tests/lib/AbstractTest.php
+++ b/tests/lib/AbstractTest.php
@@ -518,10 +518,6 @@ abstract class AbstractTest extends \PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase {
         // stringify our expectations if necessary
         if (static::$stringOutput ?? false) {
             $expected = $this->stringify($expected);
-            // MySQL is extra-special and mixes strings and integers, so we cast the data, too
-            if ((static::$implementation ?? "") === "MySQL") {
-                $data = $this->stringify($data);
-            }
         }
         $this->assertCount(sizeof($expected), $data, "Number of result rows (".sizeof($data).") differs from number of expected rows (".sizeof($expected).")");
         if (sizeof($expected)) {