diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index ba5672d4c51..093d5fd472a 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ croc100
 Cal Leeming
 Carl Friedrich Bolz
 Carlos Jenkins
+Cen Fangyu (Dmao233)
 Ceridwen
 Charles Cloud
 Charles Machalow
diff --git a/changelog/14953.bugfix.rst b/changelog/14953.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bacb105878e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/14953.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+The :confval:`max_warnings` configuration option now accepts integer values in TOML configuration files, while still accepting strings for backward compatibility.
diff --git a/doc/en/reference/reference.rst b/doc/en/reference/reference.rst
index 362d5c917e2..cb99744330d 100644
--- a/doc/en/reference/reference.rst
+++ b/doc/en/reference/reference.rst
@@ -1705,9 +1705,11 @@ passed multiple times. The expected format is ``name=value``. For example::
 
 
 .. confval:: max_warnings
-   :type: ``int``
+   :type: ``int | str``
 
    .. versionadded:: 9.1
+   .. versionchanged:: 9.2
+        Added support for specifying the value as an integer in TOML configuration.
 
    Maximum number of warnings allowed before the test run is considered a failure.
    When all tests pass, but the total number of warnings exceeds this value, pytest exits with
@@ -3671,7 +3673,7 @@ All the command-line flags can also be obtained by running ``pytest --help``::
                             Each line specifies a pattern for
                             warnings.filterwarnings. Processed after
                             -W/--pythonwarnings.
-      max_warnings (string):
+      max_warnings (int | string):
                             Exit with error if all tests pass but the number of
                             warnings exceeds this threshold
       norecursedirs (args): Directory patterns to avoid for recursion
diff --git a/src/_pytest/main.py b/src/_pytest/main.py
index 1b337e20c7e..adfdb37dbe6 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/main.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/main.py
@@ -144,6 +144,8 @@ def pytest_addoption(parser: Parser) -> None:
     parser.addini(
         "max_warnings",
         help="Exit with error if all tests pass but the number of warnings exceeds this threshold",
+        type=int | str,
+        default=None,
     )
 
     group = parser.getgroup("collect", "collection")
diff --git a/src/_pytest/terminal.py b/src/_pytest/terminal.py
index 825435225b3..481cbc96900 100644
--- a/src/_pytest/terminal.py
+++ b/src/_pytest/terminal.py
@@ -1092,10 +1092,10 @@ def _get_max_warnings(self) -> int | None:
         value = self.config.option.max_warnings
         if value is not None:
             return int(value)
-        ini_value = self.config.getini("max_warnings")
-        if ini_value:
+        ini_value: int | str | None = self.config.getini("max_warnings")
+        if isinstance(ini_value, str):
             return int(ini_value)
-        return None
+        return ini_value
 
     #
     # Summaries for sessionfinish.
diff --git a/testing/test_warnings.py b/testing/test_warnings.py
index 017781c2355..0344cb453d8 100644
--- a/testing/test_warnings.py
+++ b/testing/test_warnings.py
@@ -1065,6 +1065,23 @@ def test_max_warnings_ini_option(self, pytester: Pytester) -> None:
         result = pytester.runpytest()
         assert result.ret == ExitCode.MAX_WARNINGS_ERROR
 
+    @pytest.mark.filterwarnings("default::UserWarning")
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("value", ["1", '"1"'])
+    def test_max_warnings_toml_option(self, pytester: Pytester, value: str) -> None:
+        """max_warnings can be set via TOML configuration.
+
+        Supports both int and str (for backward compat).
+        """
+        pytester.maketoml(
+            f"""
+            [pytest]
+            max_warnings = {value}
+            """
+        )
+        pytester.makepyfile(self.PYFILE)
+        result = pytester.runpytest()
+        assert result.ret == ExitCode.MAX_WARNINGS_ERROR
+
     @pytest.mark.filterwarnings("default::UserWarning")
     def test_max_warnings_with_test_failure(self, pytester: Pytester) -> None:
         """When tests fail AND warnings exceed max, TESTS_FAILED takes priority."""