diff --git a/django/core/cache/backends/memcached.py b/django/core/cache/backends/memcached.py
index 1e1d97ed35..aa1b4513c0 100644
--- a/django/core/cache/backends/memcached.py
+++ b/django/core/cache/backends/memcached.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class BaseMemcachedCache(BaseCache):
             #
             # This means that we have to switch to absolute timestamps.
             timeout += int(time.time())
-        return timeout
+        return int(timeout)
 
     def add(self, key, value, timeout=0, version=None):
         key = self.make_key(key, version=version)
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py
index afb5a15b41..6a5201ffeb 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py
@@ -408,6 +408,11 @@ class BaseCacheTests(object):
         self.assertEqual(self.cache.get('key3'), 'sausage')
         self.assertEqual(self.cache.get('key4'), 'lobster bisque')
 
+    def test_float_timeout(self):
+        # Make sure a timeout given as a float doesn't crash anything.
+        self.cache.set("key1", "spam", 100.2)
+        self.assertEqual(self.cache.get("key1"), "spam")
+
     def perform_cull_test(self, initial_count, final_count):
         """This is implemented as a utility method, because only some of the backends
         implement culling. The culling algorithm also varies slightly, so the final