diff --git a/internal/cmd/kvm/crtentry.go b/internal/cmd/kvm/crtentry.go
index e6b974d3e..189d1a8c7 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/kvm/crtentry.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/kvm/crtentry.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ var CreateEntryCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	},
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 		cmd.SilenceUsage = true
+		value = getKVMString(value)
 		_, err = kvm.CreateEntry(proxyName, mapName, keyName, []byte(value))
 		return
 	},
diff --git a/internal/cmd/kvm/entries.go b/internal/cmd/kvm/entries.go
index acb9e9291..5bd4595bc 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/kvm/entries.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/kvm/entries.go
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@
 package kvm
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
+
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
@@ -36,3 +39,16 @@ func init() {
 	EntryCmd.AddCommand(ImpEntryCmd)
 	EntryCmd.AddCommand(UpdateEntryCmd)
 }
+
+func getKVMString(value string) string {
+	var err error
+	// convert any boolean, float or integer to string
+	if _, err = strconv.ParseBool(value); err == nil {
+		value = fmt.Sprintf("\"%s\"", value)
+	} else if _, err = strconv.ParseInt(value, 10, 0); err == nil {
+		value = fmt.Sprintf("\"%s\"", value)
+	} else if _, err = strconv.ParseFloat(value, 0); err == nil {
+		value = fmt.Sprintf("\"%s\"", value)
+	}
+	return value
+}
diff --git a/internal/cmd/kvm/updentry.go b/internal/cmd/kvm/updentry.go
index ea338f0e0..a32a5dd0d 100644
--- a/internal/cmd/kvm/updentry.go
+++ b/internal/cmd/kvm/updentry.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ var UpdateEntryCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	},
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
 		cmd.SilenceUsage = true
+		value = getKVMString(value)
 		_, err = kvm.UpdateEntry(proxyName, mapName, keyName, []byte(value))
 		return
 	},