diff --git a/CHANGELOG.rst b/CHANGELOG.rst
index 49be921a59..75b93969c2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.rst
+++ b/CHANGELOG.rst
@@ -4,6 +4,14 @@ Changelog
 in development
 --------------
 
+Fixed
+~~~~~
+
+* Fix Type error for ``time_diff`` critera comparison. convert the timediff value as float to match
+  ``timedelta.total_seconds()`` return. #5462
+
+  Contributed by @blackstrip
+
 Added
 ~~~~~
 
diff --git a/st2common/st2common/operators.py b/st2common/st2common/operators.py
index 6896e87658..9fb38548f3 100644
--- a/st2common/st2common/operators.py
+++ b/st2common/st2common/operators.py
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ def _timediff(diff_target, period_seconds, operator):
     # Note: date_utils.parse uses dateutil.parse which is way more flexible then strptime and
     # supports many date formats
     diff_target_utc = date_utils.parse(diff_target)
-    return operator((utc_now - diff_target_utc).total_seconds(), period_seconds)
+    return operator((utc_now - diff_target_utc).total_seconds(), float(period_seconds))
 
 
 def timediff_lt(value, criteria_pattern):
diff --git a/st2common/tests/unit/test_operators.py b/st2common/tests/unit/test_operators.py
index 5917e4277c..7198f26fb1 100644
--- a/st2common/tests/unit/test_operators.py
+++ b/st2common/tests/unit/test_operators.py
@@ -943,6 +943,20 @@ def test_timediff_lt_fail(self):
             "Passed test_timediff_lt with None as criteria_pattern.",
         )
 
+    def test_timediff_lt_webui_value(self):
+        op = operators.get_operator("timediff_lt")
+        self.assertTrue(
+            op(date_utils.get_datetime_utc_now().isoformat(), "10"),
+            "Failed test_timediff_lt_webui_value.",
+        )
+
+    def test_timediff_lt_webui_value_fail(self):
+        op = operators.get_operator("timediff_lt")
+        self.assertFalse(
+            op("2014-07-01T00:01:01.000000", "10"),
+            "Passed test_timediff_lt_webui_value.",
+        )
+
     def test_timediff_gt(self):
         op = operators.get_operator("timediff_gt")
         self.assertTrue(op("2014-07-01T00:01:01.000000", 1), "Failed test_timediff_gt.")
@@ -958,6 +972,20 @@ def test_timediff_gt_fail(self):
             "Passed test_timediff_gt with None as criteria_pattern.",
         )
 
+    def test_timediff_gt_webui_value(self):
+        op = operators.get_operator("timediff_gt")
+        self.assertTrue(
+            op("2014-07-01T00:01:01.000000", "1"),
+            "Failed test_timediff_gt_webui_value.",
+        )
+
+    def test_timediff_gt_webui_value_fail(self):
+        op = operators.get_operator("timediff_gt")
+        self.assertFalse(
+            op(date_utils.get_datetime_utc_now().isoformat(), "10"),
+            "Passed test_timediff_gt_webui_value.",
+        )
+
     def test_exists(self):
         op = operators.get_operator("exists")
         self.assertTrue(op(False, None), "Should return True")