diff --git a/spec/unit/validations_spec.lua b/spec/unit/validations_spec.lua
index 3bd16f9b9a0..614c0d92cb3 100644
--- a/spec/unit/validations_spec.lua
+++ b/spec/unit/validations_spec.lua
@@ -1,8 +1,18 @@
 local schemas = require "kong.dao.schemas"
+local constants = require "kong.constants"
 local validate = schemas.validate
 
 describe("Validation #schema", function()
 
+  it("should return the right alias", function()
+    assert.are.same("number", schemas.get_type("number"))
+    assert.are.same("string", schemas.get_type("string"))
+    assert.are.same("boolean", schemas.get_type("boolean"))
+    assert.are.same("table", schemas.get_type("table"))
+    assert.are.same("string", schemas.get_type(constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID))
+    assert.are.same("number", schemas.get_type(constants.DATABASE_TYPES.TIMESTAMP))
+  end)
+
   describe("#validate()", function()
     -- Ok kids, today we're gonna test a custom validation schema,
     -- grab a pair of glasses, this stuff can literally explode.
diff --git a/src/constants.lua b/src/constants.lua
index fece0411f95..a3dfefe8bb8 100644
--- a/src/constants.lua
+++ b/src/constants.lua
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@ return {
     UNIQUE = "unique",
     FOREIGN = "foreign"
   },
+  DATABASE_TYPES = {
+    ID = "id",
+    TIMESTAMP = "timestamp"
+  },
   HEADERS = {
     SERVER = "Server",
     PROXY_TIME = "X-Kong-Proxy-Time",
diff --git a/src/dao/cassandra/accounts.lua b/src/dao/cassandra/accounts.lua
index ecae9ca3bfb..c4e3de678cf 100644
--- a/src/dao/cassandra/accounts.lua
+++ b/src/dao/cassandra/accounts.lua
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 local BaseDao = require "kong.dao.cassandra.base_dao"
+local constants = require "kong.constants"
 
 local SCHEMA = {
-  id = { type = "id" },
-  provider_id = { unique = true, queryable = true },
-  created_at = { type = "timestamp" }
+  id = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID },
+  provider_id = { type = "string", unique = true, queryable = true },
+  created_at = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.TIMESTAMP }
 }
 
 local Accounts = BaseDao:extend()
diff --git a/src/dao/cassandra/apis.lua b/src/dao/cassandra/apis.lua
index 4be2c9999d6..573cfa46198 100644
--- a/src/dao/cassandra/apis.lua
+++ b/src/dao/cassandra/apis.lua
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
 local BaseDao = require "kong.dao.cassandra.base_dao"
+local constants = require "kong.constants"
 
 local SCHEMA = {
-  id = { type = "id" },
-  name = { required = true, unique = true, queryable = true },
-  public_dns = { required = true, unique = true, queryable = true,
+  id = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID },
+  name = { type = "string", required = true, unique = true, queryable = true },
+  public_dns = { type = "string", required = true, unique = true, queryable = true,
                  regex = "(([a-zA-Z0-9]|[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9\\-]*[a-zA-Z0-9])\\.)*([A-Za-z0-9]|[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9\\-]*[A-Za-z0-9])" },
-  target_url = { required = true },
-  created_at = { type = "timestamp" }
+  target_url = { type = "string", required = true },
+  created_at = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.TIMESTAMP }
 }
 
 local Apis = BaseDao:extend()
diff --git a/src/dao/cassandra/applications.lua b/src/dao/cassandra/applications.lua
index 85abfb26a15..fc439e53174 100644
--- a/src/dao/cassandra/applications.lua
+++ b/src/dao/cassandra/applications.lua
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 local BaseDao = require "kong.dao.cassandra.base_dao"
+local constants = require "kong.constants"
 
 local SCHEMA = {
-  id = { type = "id" },
-  account_id = { type = "id", required = true, foreign = true, queryable = true },
-  public_key = { required = true, unique = true, queryable = true },
-  secret_key = {},
-  created_at = { type = "timestamp" }
+  id = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID },
+  account_id = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID, required = true, foreign = true, queryable = true },
+  public_key = { type = "string", required = true, unique = true, queryable = true },
+  secret_key = { type = "string" },
+  created_at = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.TIMESTAMP }
 }
 
 local Applications = BaseDao:extend()
diff --git a/src/dao/cassandra/base_dao.lua b/src/dao/cassandra/base_dao.lua
index dcb2a346f28..0f4e9a217a9 100644
--- a/src/dao/cassandra/base_dao.lua
+++ b/src/dao/cassandra/base_dao.lua
@@ -47,13 +47,13 @@ local function encode_cassandra_values(schema, t, parameters)
     local schema_field = schema[column]
     local value = t[column]
 
-    if schema_field.type == "id" and value then
+    if schema_field.type == constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID and value then
       if is_valid_uuid(value) then
         value = cassandra.uuid(value)
       else
         errors = utils.add_error(errors, column, value.." is an invalid uuid")
       end
-    elseif schema_field.type == "timestamp" and value then
+    elseif schema_field.type == constants.DATABASE_TYPES.TIMESTAMP and value then
       value = cassandra.timestamp(value)
     elseif value == nil then
       value = cassandra.null
diff --git a/src/dao/cassandra/plugins.lua b/src/dao/cassandra/plugins.lua
index 0a7597fd499..e490cdb6395 100644
--- a/src/dao/cassandra/plugins.lua
+++ b/src/dao/cassandra/plugins.lua
@@ -12,13 +12,13 @@ local function load_value_schema(plugin_t)
 end
 
 local SCHEMA = {
-  id = { type = "id" },
-  api_id = { type = "id", required = true, foreign = true, queryable = true },
-  application_id = { type = "id", foreign = true, queryable = true, default = constants.DATABASE_NULL_ID },
-  name = { required = true, queryable = true, immutable = true },
+  id = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID },
+  api_id = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID, required = true, foreign = true, queryable = true },
+  application_id = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID, foreign = true, queryable = true, default = constants.DATABASE_NULL_ID },
+  name = { type = "string", required = true, queryable = true, immutable = true },
   value = { type = "table", required = true, schema = load_value_schema },
   enabled = { type = "boolean", default = true },
-  created_at = { type = "timestamp" }
+  created_at = { type = constants.DATABASE_TYPES.TIMESTAMP }
 }
 
 local Plugins = BaseDao:extend()
diff --git a/src/dao/schemas.lua b/src/dao/schemas.lua
index 7e324e0c0eb..9bd9f0cb8ef 100644
--- a/src/dao/schemas.lua
+++ b/src/dao/schemas.lua
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 local rex = require "rex_pcre" -- Why? Lua has built in pattern which should do the job too
 local utils = require "kong.tools.utils"
+local constants = require "kong.constants"
 
 local LUA_TYPES = {
   boolean = true,
@@ -8,11 +9,26 @@ local LUA_TYPES = {
   table = true
 }
 
+local LUA_TYPE_ALIASES = {
+  [constants.DATABASE_TYPES.ID] = "string",
+  [constants.DATABASE_TYPES.TIMESTAMP] = "number"
+}
+
 --
 -- Schemas
 --
 local _M = {}
 
+
+-- Returns the proper Lua type from a schema type, handling aliases
+-- @param {string} type_val The type of the schema property
+-- @return {string} A valid Lua type
+function _M.get_type(type_val)
+  local alias = LUA_TYPE_ALIASES[type_val]
+  return alias and alias or type_val
+end
+
+
 -- Validate a table against a given schema
 -- @param {table} t Table to validate
 -- @param {table} schema Schema against which to validate the table
@@ -38,7 +54,7 @@ function _M.validate(t, schema, is_update)
       errors = utils.add_error(errors, column, column.." is required")
 
     -- Check type if valid
-    elseif v.type ~= nil and t[column] ~= nil and type(t[column]) ~= v.type and LUA_TYPES[v.type] then
+    elseif v.type ~= nil and t[column] ~= nil and type(t[column]) ~= _M.get_type(v.type) and LUA_TYPES[v.type] then
       errors = utils.add_error(errors, column, column.." is not a "..v.type)
 
     -- Check type if value is allowed in the enum
diff --git a/src/plugins/ratelimiting/schema.lua b/src/plugins/ratelimiting/schema.lua
index bf2db7ae84d..337d60619f1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/ratelimiting/schema.lua
+++ b/src/plugins/ratelimiting/schema.lua
@@ -2,5 +2,5 @@ local constants = require "kong.constants"
 
 return {
   limit = { required = true, type = "number" },
-  period = { required = true, enum = constants.RATELIMIT.PERIODS }
+  period = { required = true, type = "string", enum = constants.RATELIMIT.PERIODS }
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/tcplog/schema.lua b/src/plugins/tcplog/schema.lua
index 4482b913701..5875720a41f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/tcplog/schema.lua
+++ b/src/plugins/tcplog/schema.lua
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 return {
-  host = { required = true },
-  port = { required = true },
-  timeout = { required = false, default = 10000 },
-  keepalive = { required = false, default = 60000 }
+  host = { required = true, type = "string" },
+  port = { required = true, type = "number" },
+  timeout = { required = false, default = 10000, type = "number" },
+  keepalive = { required = false, default = 60000, type = "number" }
 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/udplog/schema.lua b/src/plugins/udplog/schema.lua
index fa8c204afa5..9e8c4a9ed3c 100644
--- a/src/plugins/udplog/schema.lua
+++ b/src/plugins/udplog/schema.lua
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 return {
-  host = { required = true },
-  port = { required = true },
-  timeout = { required = false, default = 10000 }
+  host = { required = true, type = "string" },
+  port = { required = true, type = "number" },
+  timeout = { required = false, default = 10000, type = "number" }
 }