diff --git a/src/items/dto/new-item.input.ts b/src/items/dto/new-item.input.ts
index 75c00b4..b1f0a2f 100644
--- a/src/items/dto/new-item.input.ts
+++ b/src/items/dto/new-item.input.ts
@@ -12,5 +12,5 @@ export class NewItemInput {
   notes?: string;
 
   @Field((type) => ID, { nullable: true })
-  parent?: number;
+  parent?: string;
 }
diff --git a/src/items/items.service.ts b/src/items/items.service.ts
index 7fea028..ca100e1 100644
--- a/src/items/items.service.ts
+++ b/src/items/items.service.ts
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export class ItemsService {
         : // @ts-ignore input.id must exist here
           this.eans.toID(input.id),
       parent: input.parent
-        ? await this.itemRepository.findOneOrFail(input.parent)
+        ? await this.itemRepository.findOneOrFail(this.eans.toID(input.parent))
         : undefined,
     });