diff --git a/sorl/thumbnail/engines/base.py b/sorl/thumbnail/engines/base.py
index 18d8cdab0..6f56db15b 100644
--- a/sorl/thumbnail/engines/base.py
+++ b/sorl/thumbnail/engines/base.py
@@ -118,8 +118,11 @@ def blur(self, image, geometry, options):
         """
         Wrapper for ``_blur``
         """
-        if options.get('blur'):
-            return self._blur(image, int(options.get('blur')))
+        radius = options.get('blur')
+        if radius:
+            if isinstance(radius, str):
+                radius = int(radius)
+            return self._blur(image, radius)
         return image
 
     def padding(self, image, geometry, options):
diff --git a/sorl/thumbnail/engines/pil_engine.py b/sorl/thumbnail/engines/pil_engine.py
index ea754fd77..e0921988c 100644
--- a/sorl/thumbnail/engines/pil_engine.py
+++ b/sorl/thumbnail/engines/pil_engine.py
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@
 from sorl.thumbnail.engines.base import EngineBase
 
 try:
-    from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFile, ImageFilter, ImageMode
+    from PIL import Image, ImageDraw, ImageFile, ImageMode
+    from PIL.ImageFilter import GaussianBlur
 except ImportError:
     import Image
     import ImageDraw
@@ -68,16 +69,6 @@ def round_rectangle(size, radius, fill):
     return rectangle
 
 
-class GaussianBlur(ImageFilter.Filter):
-    name = "GaussianBlur"
-
-    def __init__(self, radius=2):
-        self.radius = radius
-
-    def filter(self, image):
-        return image.gaussian_blur(self.radius)
-
-
 class Engine(EngineBase):
     def get_image(self, source):
         buffer = BytesIO(source.read())
diff --git a/tests/thumbnail_tests/test_engines.py b/tests/thumbnail_tests/test_engines.py
index 9ad8e318c..4c51c9d9c 100644
--- a/tests/thumbnail_tests/test_engines.py
+++ b/tests/thumbnail_tests/test_engines.py
@@ -59,6 +59,15 @@ def test_upscale_and_crop(self):
         self.assertEqual(t.x, 400)
         self.assertEqual(t.y, 300)
 
+    @unittest.skipIf('pil_engine' not in settings.THUMBNAIL_ENGINE, 'blur is only supported in PIL')
+    def test_crop_and_blur(self):
+        item = Item.objects.get(image='200x100.jpg')
+
+        t = self.BACKEND.get_thumbnail(item.image, '100x100', crop="center", blur='3')
+
+        self.assertEqual(t.x, 100)
+        self.assertEqual(t.y, 100)
+
     def test_kvstore(self):
         im = ImageFile(Item.objects.get(image='500x500.jpg').image)
         self.KVSTORE.delete_thumbnails(im)