diff --git a/statediff/db/migrations/00004_create_eth_header_cids_table.sql b/statediff/db/migrations/00004_create_eth_header_cids_table.sql
index 13bb4e317..f7231a30b 100644
--- a/statediff/db/migrations/00004_create_eth_header_cids_table.sql
+++ b/statediff/db/migrations/00004_create_eth_header_cids_table.sql
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ CREATE TABLE eth.header_cids (
   bloom                 BYTEA NOT NULL,
   timestamp             NUMERIC NOT NULL,
   times_validated       INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 1,
-  base_fee              VARCHAR(38),
+  base_fee              BIGINT DEFAULT 0,
   UNIQUE (block_number, block_hash)
 );
 
diff --git a/statediff/indexer/indexer.go b/statediff/indexer/indexer.go
index c67442760..ebb53aca8 100644
--- a/statediff/indexer/indexer.go
+++ b/statediff/indexer/indexer.go
@@ -212,6 +212,12 @@ func (sdi *StateDiffIndexer) processHeader(tx *sqlx.Tx, header *types.Header, he
 	if err := shared.PublishIPLD(tx, headerNode); err != nil {
 		return 0, fmt.Errorf("error publishing header IPLD: %v", err)
 	}
+
+	var baseFee int64
+	if header.BaseFee != nil {
+		baseFee = header.BaseFee.Int64()
+	}
+
 	// index header
 	return sdi.dbWriter.upsertHeaderCID(tx, models.HeaderModel{
 		CID:             headerNode.Cid().String(),
@@ -227,7 +233,7 @@ func (sdi *StateDiffIndexer) processHeader(tx *sqlx.Tx, header *types.Header, he
 		TxRoot:          header.TxHash.String(),
 		UncleRoot:       header.UncleHash.String(),
 		Timestamp:       header.Time,
-		BaseFee:         header.BaseFee.String(),
+		BaseFee:         baseFee,
 	})
 }
 
diff --git a/statediff/indexer/indexer_legacy_test.go b/statediff/indexer/indexer_legacy_test.go
index bef319354..59b02b6e4 100644
--- a/statediff/indexer/indexer_legacy_test.go
+++ b/statediff/indexer/indexer_legacy_test.go
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ func TestPublishAndIndexerLegacy(t *testing.T) {
 			TD      string
 			Reward  string
 			ID      int
-			BaseFee string `db:"base_fee"`
+			BaseFee int64 `db:"base_fee"`
 		}
 		header := new(res)
 		err = db.QueryRowx(pgStr, legacyData.BlockNumber.Uint64()).StructScan(header)
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ func TestPublishAndIndexerLegacy(t *testing.T) {
 		shared.ExpectEqual(t, header.CID, legacyHeaderCID.String())
 		shared.ExpectEqual(t, header.TD, legacyData.MockBlock.Difficulty().String())
 		shared.ExpectEqual(t, header.Reward, "5000000000000011250")
-		shared.ExpectEqual(t, header.BaseFee, legacyData.MockHeader.BaseFee.String())
+		require.Nil(t, legacyData.MockHeader.BaseFee)
+		shared.ExpectEqual(t, header.BaseFee, int64(0))
 	})
 }
diff --git a/statediff/indexer/indexer_test.go b/statediff/indexer/indexer_test.go
index 9af8622c9..8ae522e87 100644
--- a/statediff/indexer/indexer_test.go
+++ b/statediff/indexer/indexer_test.go
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ func TestPublishAndIndexer(t *testing.T) {
 			TD      string
 			Reward  string
 			ID      int
-			BaseFee string `db:"base_fee"`
+			BaseFee int64 `db:"base_fee"`
 		}
 		header := new(res)
 		err = db.QueryRowx(pgStr, mocks.BlockNumber.Uint64()).StructScan(header)
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ func TestPublishAndIndexer(t *testing.T) {
 		shared.ExpectEqual(t, header.CID, headerCID.String())
 		shared.ExpectEqual(t, header.TD, mocks.MockBlock.Difficulty().String())
 		shared.ExpectEqual(t, header.Reward, "2000000000000021250")
-		shared.ExpectEqual(t, header.BaseFee, mocks.MockHeader.BaseFee.String())
+		shared.ExpectEqual(t, header.BaseFee, mocks.MockHeader.BaseFee.Int64())
 		dc, err := cid.Decode(header.CID)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/statediff/indexer/models/models.go b/statediff/indexer/models/models.go
index 2855c5889..4dcb7492d 100644
--- a/statediff/indexer/models/models.go
+++ b/statediff/indexer/models/models.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ type HeaderModel struct {
 	Bloom           []byte `db:"bloom"`
 	Timestamp       uint64 `db:"timestamp"`
 	TimesValidated  int64  `db:"times_validated"`
-	BaseFee         string `db:"base_fee"`
+	BaseFee         int64  `db:"base_fee"`
 }
 
 // UncleModel is the db model for eth.uncle_cids