diff --git a/common-tools/clas-utils/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/options/OptionValue.java b/common-tools/clas-utils/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/options/OptionValue.java
index 419394c95e..b4d216e392 100644
--- a/common-tools/clas-utils/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/options/OptionValue.java
+++ b/common-tools/clas-utils/src/main/java/org/jlab/utils/options/OptionValue.java
@@ -27,11 +27,11 @@ public OptionValue() { }
     public String  getDescription() { return this.optionDescription;}
     public String  getDefault() { return this.optionDefault;}
     
-    public int     intValue()     { return Integer.parseInt(this.optionValue);}
-    public long    longValue()    { return Long.parseLong(this.optionValue);}
+    public int     intValue()     { return Integer.decode(this.optionValue);}
+    public long    longValue()    { return Long.decode(this.optionValue);}
     public double  doubleValue()  { return Double.parseDouble(this.optionValue);}
     public String  stringValue()  { return this.optionValue;}
-    
+
     private int getOptionIndex(List<String> options){
         for(int i = 0; i < options.size(); i++){
             if(options.get(i).equals(optionString)==true)