diff --git a/java/res/values/attrs.xml b/java/res/values/attrs.xml
index 815c7fd28..64a4c9fc6 100644
--- a/java/res/values/attrs.xml
+++ b/java/res/values/attrs.xml
@@ -132,7 +132,15 @@
     </declare-styleable>
 
     <declare-styleable name="BaseKeyboard_Case">
-        <attr name="mode" format="string" />
+        <!-- This should be matched with KeyboardSwitcher.MODE_* -->
+        <attr name="mode">
+            <flag name="text" value="0" />
+            <flag name="url" value="1" />
+            <flag name="email" value="2" />
+            <flag name="im" value="3" />
+            <flag name="web" value="4" />
+            <flag name="phone" value="5" />
+        </attr>
         <attr name="settingsKey" format="string" />
         <attr name="voiceKey" format="string" />
     </declare-styleable>
diff --git a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/BaseKeyboardParser.java b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/BaseKeyboardParser.java
index 496f65174..276abfc1f 100644
--- a/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/BaseKeyboardParser.java
+++ b/java/src/com/android/inputmethod/latin/BaseKeyboardParser.java
@@ -120,14 +120,6 @@ public class BaseKeyboardParser {
     private static final String TAG_CASE = "case";
     private static final String TAG_DEFAULT = "default";
 
-    // String representation of KeyboardSwitcher.MODE_xxx.
-    private static final String MODE_TEXT = "text";
-    private static final String MODE_URL = "url";
-    private static final String MODE_EMAIL = "email";
-    private static final String MODE_IM = "im";
-    private static final String MODE_WEB = "web";
-    private static final String MODE_PHONE = "phone";
-
     private final BaseKeyboard mKeyboard;
     private final Resources mResources;
 
@@ -411,7 +403,7 @@ public class BaseKeyboardParser {
         final BaseKeyboard keyboard = mKeyboard;
         final TypedArray a = mResources.obtainAttributes(Xml.asAttributeSet(parser),
                 R.styleable.BaseKeyboard_Case);
-        final String mode = a.getString(R.styleable.BaseKeyboard_Case_mode);
+        final int mode = a.getInt(R.styleable.BaseKeyboard_Case_mode, -1);
         final String settingsKey = a.getString(R.styleable.BaseKeyboard_Case_settingsKey);
         final String voiceKey = a.getString(R.styleable.BaseKeyboard_Case_voiceKey);
         a.recycle();
@@ -419,8 +411,7 @@ public class BaseKeyboardParser {
         final KeyboardId id = keyboard.mId;
         if (id == null)
             return true;
-        final boolean modeMatched = (mode == null
-                || id.mMode == parseModeString(mode));
+        final boolean modeMatched = (mode == -1 || id.mMode == mode);
         final boolean settingsKeyMatched = (settingsKey == null
                 || id.mHasSettingsKey == Boolean.parseBoolean(settingsKey));
         final boolean voiceKeyMatched = (voiceKey == null
@@ -428,23 +419,13 @@ public class BaseKeyboardParser {
         final boolean selected = modeMatched && settingsKeyMatched && voiceKeyMatched;
         if (DEBUG_TAG) {
             Log.d(TAG, "parseCaseCondition: " + Boolean.toString(selected).toUpperCase()
-                    + (mode != null ? " mode=" + mode : "")
+                    + (mode != -1 ? " mode=" + mode : "")
                     + (settingsKey != null ? " settingsKey="+settingsKey : "")
                     + (voiceKey != null ? " voiceKey=" + voiceKey : ""));
         }
         return selected;
     }
 
-    private static int parseModeString(String mode) {
-        if (mode.equals(MODE_TEXT)) return KeyboardSwitcher.MODE_TEXT;
-        if (mode.equals(MODE_URL)) return KeyboardSwitcher.MODE_URL;
-        if (mode.equals(MODE_EMAIL)) return KeyboardSwitcher.MODE_EMAIL;
-        if (mode.equals(MODE_IM)) return KeyboardSwitcher.MODE_IM;
-        if (mode.equals(MODE_WEB)) return KeyboardSwitcher.MODE_WEB;
-        if (mode.equals(MODE_PHONE)) return KeyboardSwitcher.MODE_PHONE;
-        throw new RuntimeException("uknown mode attribute in Keyboard XML: " + mode);
-    }
-
     private boolean parseDefault(XmlResourceParser parser, Row row, List<Key> keys)
             throws XmlPullParserException, IOException {
         if (DEBUG_PARSER) debugEnterMethod("parseDefault", keys == null);