diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6e91b6c47f..c404eb8cb8 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -39,4 +39,4 @@ tmp/
 *.tar.gz
 models
 genhtml
-.github/skills/
\ No newline at end of file
+.github/skills/
diff --git a/src/modelinstance.cpp b/src/modelinstance.cpp
index 285230b193..8df4922dcc 100644
--- a/src/modelinstance.cpp
+++ b/src/modelinstance.cpp
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 #include "modelinstance.hpp"
 
 #include <algorithm>
+#include <array>
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <memory>
@@ -82,6 +83,109 @@ enum : unsigned int {
     POSTPROCESS,
     TIMER_END
 };
+
+enum class PluginConfigValueType {
+    INT64,
+    BOOL,
+};
+
+struct PluginConfigNormalizationRule {
+    const char* key;
+    PluginConfigValueType valueType;
+};
+
+const std::array<PluginConfigNormalizationRule, 4> TYPED_PLUGIN_CONFIG_NORMALIZATION_RULES{{
+    {"NUM_STREAMS", PluginConfigValueType::INT64},
+    {"INFERENCE_NUM_THREADS", PluginConfigValueType::INT64},
+    {"AUTO_BATCH_TIMEOUT", PluginConfigValueType::INT64},
+    {"ENABLE_CPU_PINNING", PluginConfigValueType::BOOL},
+}};
+
+std::string pluginConfigValueToString(const ov::Any& value) {
+    if (value.is<std::string>()) {
+        return value.as<std::string>();
+    }
+    if (value.is<const char*>()) {
+        return value.as<const char*>();
+    }
+    if (value.is<int64_t>()) {
+        return std::to_string(value.as<int64_t>());
+    }
+    if (value.is<int>()) {
+        return std::to_string(value.as<int>());
+    }
+    if (value.is<uint32_t>()) {
+        return std::to_string(value.as<uint32_t>());
+    }
+    if (value.is<double>()) {
+        return std::to_string(value.as<double>());
+    }
+    if (value.is<bool>()) {
+        return value.as<bool>() ? "true" : "false";
+    }
+    return "<non-stringifiable>";
+}
+
+bool normalizePluginConfigValue(ov::Any& value, const PluginConfigNormalizationRule& rule) {
+    if (!value.is<std::string>()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    const auto& stringValue = value.as<std::string>();
+    switch (rule.valueType) {
+    case PluginConfigValueType::INT64: {
+        auto parsedValue = ovms::stoi64(stringValue);
+        if (!parsedValue.has_value()) {
+            return false;
+        }
+        value = parsedValue.value();
+        return true;
+    }
+    case PluginConfigValueType::BOOL: {
+        auto normalized = ovms::toLower(stringValue);
+        if (normalized == "true") {
+            value = true;
+            return true;
+        }
+        if (normalized == "false") {
+            value = false;
+            return true;
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
+template <typename MapType>
+void normalizeTypedPluginConfigValues(MapType& pluginConfig) {
+    for (const auto& rule : TYPED_PLUGIN_CONFIG_NORMALIZATION_RULES) {
+        auto it = pluginConfig.find(rule.key);
+        if (it == pluginConfig.end()) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        if (!normalizePluginConfigValue(it->second, rule) && it->second.template is<std::string>()) {
+            SPDLOG_LOGGER_DEBUG(ovms::modelmanager_logger, "Keeping plugin config key: {} as string value: {}", rule.key, it->second.template as<std::string>());
+        }
+    }
+
+    auto devicePropertiesIt = pluginConfig.find("DEVICE_PROPERTIES");
+    if (devicePropertiesIt == pluginConfig.end() || !devicePropertiesIt->second.template is<ov::AnyMap>()) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    ov::AnyMap deviceProperties = devicePropertiesIt->second.template as<ov::AnyMap>();
+    for (auto& devicePropertiesEntry : deviceProperties) {
+        auto& devicePropertiesAny = devicePropertiesEntry.second;
+        if (!devicePropertiesAny.is<ov::AnyMap>()) {
+            continue;
+        }
+        ov::AnyMap nestedDeviceProperties = devicePropertiesAny.as<ov::AnyMap>();
+        normalizeTypedPluginConfigValues(nestedDeviceProperties);
+        devicePropertiesAny = nestedDeviceProperties;
+    }
+    devicePropertiesIt->second = deviceProperties;
+}
 }  // namespace
 
 namespace ov {
@@ -910,6 +1014,7 @@ void ModelInstance::loadCompiledModelPtr(const plugin_config_t& pluginConfig) {
 
 plugin_config_t ModelInstance::prepareDefaultPluginConfig(const ModelConfig& config) {
     plugin_config_t pluginConfig = config.getPluginConfig();
+    normalizeTypedPluginConfigValues(pluginConfig);
     if ((pluginConfig.count("NUM_STREAMS") == 1) || (pluginConfig.count("PERFORMANCE_HINT") == 1)) {
         return pluginConfig;
     } else {
@@ -958,7 +1063,7 @@ Status ModelInstance::loadOVCompiledModel(const ModelConfig& config) {
     for (const auto& pair : pluginConfig) {
         const auto& key = pair.first;
         const auto& value = pair.second;
-        SPDLOG_LOGGER_INFO(modelmanager_logger, "OVMS set plugin settings key: {}; value: {};", key, value.as<std::string>());
+        SPDLOG_LOGGER_INFO(modelmanager_logger, "OVMS set plugin settings key: {}; value: {};", key, pluginConfigValueToString(value));
     }
     logOVPluginConfig([this](const std::string& key) {
             OV_LOGGER("ov::CompiledModel:{} get_property({})", reinterpret_cast<void*>(this->model.get()), key);
diff --git a/src/test/modelinstance_test.cpp b/src/test/modelinstance_test.cpp
index c6418375bb..fa296683e2 100644
--- a/src/test/modelinstance_test.cpp
+++ b/src/test/modelinstance_test.cpp
@@ -1216,6 +1216,60 @@ TEST(CpuThroughputStreamsNotSpecified, NotSetWhenPerfHintSpecified) {
     EXPECT_EQ(pluginConfig.count("CPU_THROUGHPUT_STREAMS"), 0);
 }
 
+TEST(PluginConfigNormalization, ConvertsKnownTopLevelStringValuesToTypedValues) {
+    ovms::ModelConfig config;
+    config.setPluginConfig({{"NUM_STREAMS", "4"},
+        {"INFERENCE_NUM_THREADS", "2"},
+        {"AUTO_BATCH_TIMEOUT", "7"},
+        {"ENABLE_CPU_PINNING", "false"},
+        {"PERFORMANCE_HINT", "LATENCY"}});
+
+    ovms::plugin_config_t pluginConfig = ovms::ModelInstance::prepareDefaultPluginConfig(config);
+
+    ASSERT_EQ(pluginConfig.count("NUM_STREAMS"), 1);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(pluginConfig.at("NUM_STREAMS").is<int64_t>());
+    EXPECT_EQ(pluginConfig.at("NUM_STREAMS").as<int64_t>(), 4);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(pluginConfig.at("INFERENCE_NUM_THREADS").is<int64_t>());
+    EXPECT_EQ(pluginConfig.at("INFERENCE_NUM_THREADS").as<int64_t>(), 2);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(pluginConfig.at("AUTO_BATCH_TIMEOUT").is<int64_t>());
+    EXPECT_EQ(pluginConfig.at("AUTO_BATCH_TIMEOUT").as<int64_t>(), 7);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(pluginConfig.at("ENABLE_CPU_PINNING").is<bool>());
+    EXPECT_FALSE(pluginConfig.at("ENABLE_CPU_PINNING").as<bool>());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(pluginConfig.at("PERFORMANCE_HINT").is<std::string>());
+    EXPECT_EQ(pluginConfig.at("PERFORMANCE_HINT").as<std::string>(), "LATENCY");
+}
+
+TEST(PluginConfigNormalization, ConvertsKnownNestedDevicePropertiesStringValuesToTypedValues) {
+    ovms::ModelConfig config;
+    ov::AnyMap cpuProperties;
+    cpuProperties["NUM_STREAMS"] = std::string("3");
+    cpuProperties["INFERENCE_NUM_THREADS"] = std::string("5");
+    cpuProperties["ENABLE_CPU_PINNING"] = std::string("true");
+    cpuProperties["PERFORMANCE_HINT"] = std::string("LATENCY");
+
+    ov::AnyMap deviceProperties;
+    deviceProperties["CPU"] = cpuProperties;
+
+    ovms::plugin_config_t rawPluginConfig;
+    rawPluginConfig["DEVICE_PROPERTIES"] = deviceProperties;
+    config.setPluginConfig(rawPluginConfig);
+
+    ovms::plugin_config_t pluginConfig = ovms::ModelInstance::prepareDefaultPluginConfig(config);
+
+    ASSERT_TRUE(pluginConfig.at("DEVICE_PROPERTIES").is<ov::AnyMap>());
+    auto normalizedDeviceProperties = pluginConfig.at("DEVICE_PROPERTIES").as<ov::AnyMap>();
+    ASSERT_TRUE(normalizedDeviceProperties.at("CPU").is<ov::AnyMap>());
+    auto normalizedCpuProperties = normalizedDeviceProperties.at("CPU").as<ov::AnyMap>();
+    ASSERT_TRUE(normalizedCpuProperties.at("NUM_STREAMS").is<int64_t>());
+    EXPECT_EQ(normalizedCpuProperties.at("NUM_STREAMS").as<int64_t>(), 3);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(normalizedCpuProperties.at("INFERENCE_NUM_THREADS").is<int64_t>());
+    EXPECT_EQ(normalizedCpuProperties.at("INFERENCE_NUM_THREADS").as<int64_t>(), 5);
+    ASSERT_TRUE(normalizedCpuProperties.at("ENABLE_CPU_PINNING").is<bool>());
+    EXPECT_TRUE(normalizedCpuProperties.at("ENABLE_CPU_PINNING").as<bool>());
+    ASSERT_TRUE(normalizedCpuProperties.at("PERFORMANCE_HINT").is<std::string>());
+    EXPECT_EQ(normalizedCpuProperties.at("PERFORMANCE_HINT").as<std::string>(), "LATENCY");
+}
+
 TEST(TensorMap, TestProcessingHintFromShape) {
     auto servableInputs = ovms::tensor_map_t({
         {"Input_FP32_1_224_224_3_NHWC",
diff --git a/src/test/pull_hf_model_test.cpp b/src/test/pull_hf_model_test.cpp
index e9044ad2cd..17ac5027d7 100644
--- a/src/test/pull_hf_model_test.cpp
+++ b/src/test/pull_hf_model_test.cpp
@@ -892,7 +892,27 @@ TEST_F(HfDownloadModelModule, TestInvalidProxyTimeout) {
     ConstructorEnabledConfig config;
     {
         EnvGuard eGuard;
+        // prepareLibgit2Opts() in hf_pull_model_module.cpp only applies the
+        // GIT_OPT_SET_SERVER_CONNECT_TIMEOUT option when https_proxy is empty,
+        // so we always clear https_proxy here.
+        //
+        // To make the timeout actually fire we need the destination to be
+        // unreachable. The behavior depends on the host's network setup:
+        //   * Host originally used a proxy (https_proxy was set in the
+        //     environment): the host is on a proxy-only network where a
+        //     direct connection to huggingface.co will hang and hit the
+        //     timeout. Keep the default HF_ENDPOINT.
+        //   * Host has no proxy configured (direct internet access): a direct
+        //     connection to huggingface.co would succeed within the 1 s
+        //     timeout and the assertion below would fail. Redirect the clone
+        //     to an unroutable RFC 5737 TEST-NET-1 address so the connect
+        //     must time out.
+        const char* hostHttpsProxy = std::getenv("https_proxy");
+        const bool hostHadProxy = (hostHttpsProxy != nullptr) && (std::string(hostHttpsProxy) != "");
         eGuard.set("https_proxy", "");
+        if (!hostHadProxy) {
+            eGuard.set("HF_ENDPOINT", "https://192.0.2.1/");
+        }
         const std::string timeoutConnectVal = "1000";
         eGuard.set(ovms::HfPullModelModule::GIT_SERVER_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_ENV, timeoutConnectVal);
         config.parse(arg_count, const_cast<char**>(n_argv));