diff --git a/convert-lora-to-ggml.py b/convert-lora-to-ggml.py
index 01c1665bb..3f37c597e 100644
--- a/convert-lora-to-ggml.py
+++ b/convert-lora-to-ggml.py
@@ -49,7 +49,12 @@ def translate_tensor_name(t: str) -> str:
 def write_file_header(fout: TextIO, params: Dict[str, Any]) -> None:
     fout.write(b"ggla"[::-1])  # magic (ggml lora)
     fout.write(struct.pack("i", 1))  # file version
-    fout.write(struct.pack("ii", params["r"], int(params["lora_alpha"])))
+    fout.write(struct.pack("i", params["r"])
+    # https://opendelta.readthedocs.io/en/latest/modules/deltas.html says that `lora_alpha` is an int
+    # but some models ship a float value instead
+    # let's convert to int, but fail if lossless conversion is not possible
+    assert int(lora_alpha) == lora_alpha, "cannot convert float to int losslessly"
+    fout.write(struct.pack("i", int(params["lora_alpha"])))
 
 
 def write_tensor_header(