diff --git a/MySQLdb/_mysql.c b/MySQLdb/_mysql.c
index ad0d4f3..d42cc54 100644
--- a/MySQLdb/_mysql.c
+++ b/MySQLdb/_mysql.c
@@ -1715,7 +1715,7 @@ _mysql_ConnectionObject_kill(
 {
 	unsigned long pid;
 	int r;
-	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "i:kill", &pid)) return NULL;
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "k:kill", &pid)) return NULL;
 	check_connection(self);
 	Py_BEGIN_ALLOW_THREADS
 	r = mysql_kill(&(self->connection), pid);