diff --git a/module_citeq.lua b/module_citeq.lua
index 8d742fc..86e3e41 100644
--- a/module_citeq.lua
+++ b/module_citeq.lua
@@ -1021,8 +1021,8 @@ local function _cite_q (citeq_args)
 
 	for k, v in pairs(citeq_args) do
 		if v == "" then citeq_args[k] = nil end									-- remove blank parameters
-		local link = v:match ('%[%[([^|]+)|%1%]%]');							-- get <link> from <v> wikilink [[<link>|<label>]] when <link> and <label> are same value
-		if link then															-- and if <link> and <label> are the same thing
+		local link = tostring (v):match ('%[%[([^|]+)|%1%]%]');					-- get <link> from <v> wikilink [[<link>|<label>]] when <link> and <label> are same value
+		if link then															-- if <link> and <label> are the same thing
 			citeq_args[k] = '[[' .. link .. ']]';								-- rewrite <v> as [[<link>]]
 		end
 	end