diff --git a/trollimage/tests/test_image.py b/trollimage/tests/test_image.py
index 3421efe8..1f8820cf 100644
--- a/trollimage/tests/test_image.py
+++ b/trollimage/tests/test_image.py
@@ -1631,6 +1631,25 @@ def test_linear_stretch_does_not_affect_alpha(self, dtype):
 
         np.testing.assert_allclose(img.data.values, res, atol=1.e-6)
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(("dtype", "max_val", "exp_min", "exp_max"),
+                             ((np.uint8, 255, -0.005358012691140175, 1.0053772069513798),
+                              (np.int8, 127, -0.004926108196377754, 1.0058689523488282),
+                              (np.uint16, 65535, -0.005050825305515899, 1.005050893505104),
+                              (np.int16, 32767, -0.005052744992717635, 1.0050527782880818),
+                              (np.uint32, 4294967295, -0.005050505077517274, 1.0050505395923495),
+                              (np.int32, 2147483647, -0.00505050499355784, 1.0050505395923495),
+                              (int, 2147483647, -0.00505050499355784, 1.0050505395923495),
+                              ))
+    def test_linear_stretch_integers(self, dtype, max_val, exp_min, exp_max):
+        """Test linear stretch with low-bit unsigned integer data."""
+        arr = np.linspace(0, max_val, num=75, dtype=dtype).reshape(5, 5, 3)
+        data = xr.DataArray(arr.copy(), dims=['y', 'x', 'bands'],
+                            coords={'bands': ['R', 'G', 'B']})
+        img = xrimage.XRImage(data)
+        img.stretch_linear()
+        assert img.data.values.min() == pytest.approx(exp_min)
+        assert img.data.values.max() == pytest.approx(exp_max)
+
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("dtype", (np.float32, np.float64, float))
     def test_histogram_stretch(self, dtype):
         """Test histogram stretching."""
diff --git a/trollimage/xrimage.py b/trollimage/xrimage.py
index 515925e4..be218c03 100644
--- a/trollimage/xrimage.py
+++ b/trollimage/xrimage.py
@@ -1082,6 +1082,7 @@ def crude_stretch(self, min_stretch=None, max_stretch=None):
 
         attrs = self.data.attrs
         offset = -min_stretch * scale_factor
+
         self.data = np.multiply(self.data, scale_factor, dtype=scale_factor.dtype) + offset
         self.data.attrs = attrs
         self.data.attrs.setdefault('enhancement_history', []).append({'scale': scale_factor,
@@ -1095,8 +1096,13 @@ def _check_stretch_value(self, val, kind='min'):
         if isinstance(val, (list, tuple)):
             val = self.xrify_tuples(val)
 
+        dtype = self.data.dtype
+        if dtype in (np.uint8, np.int8, np.uint16, np.int16):
+            dtype = np.dtype(np.float32)
+        elif np.issubdtype(dtype, np.integer) or isinstance(dtype, int):
+            dtype = np.dtype(np.float64)
         try:
-            val = val.astype(self.data.dtype)
+            val = val.astype(dtype)
         except AttributeError:
             val = self.data.dtype.type(val)