diff --git a/radicale/config.py b/radicale/config.py
index ae5c9c5..abb3309 100644
--- a/radicale/config.py
+++ b/radicale/config.py
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG_SCHEMA = OrderedDict([
         ("timeout", {
             "value": "30",
             "help": "socket timeout",
-            "type": positive_int}),
+            "type": positive_float}),
         ("ssl", {
             "value": "False",
             "help": "use SSL connection",