diff --git a/module/CLI/src/Exception/GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException.php b/module/CLI/src/Exception/GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException.php
index 8ddee216..f663fd8f 100644
--- a/module/CLI/src/Exception/GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException.php
+++ b/module/CLI/src/Exception/GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException.php
@@ -7,18 +7,46 @@ namespace Shlinkio\Shlink\CLI\Exception;
 use RuntimeException;
 use Throwable;
 
+use function sprintf;
+
 class GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException extends RuntimeException implements ExceptionInterface
 {
     private bool $olderDbExists;
 
-    public static function create(bool $olderDbExists, ?Throwable $prev = null): self
+    public static function withOlderDb(?Throwable $prev = null): self
     {
         $e = new self(
-            'An error occurred while updating geolocation database, and an older version could not be found',
+            'An error occurred while updating geolocation database, but an older DB is already present.',
             0,
             $prev,
         );
-        $e->olderDbExists = $olderDbExists;
+        $e->olderDbExists = true;
+
+        return $e;
+    }
+
+    public static function withoutOlderDb(?Throwable $prev = null): self
+    {
+        $e = new self(
+            'An error occurred while updating geolocation database, and an older version could not be found.',
+            0,
+            $prev,
+        );
+        $e->olderDbExists = false;
+
+        return $e;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @param mixed $buildEpoch
+     */
+    public static function withInvalidEpochInOldDb($buildEpoch): self
+    {
+        $e = new self(sprintf(
+            'Build epoch with value "%s" from existing geolocation database, could not be parsed to integer.',
+            $buildEpoch,
+        ));
+        $e->olderDbExists = true;
 
         return $e;
     }
diff --git a/module/CLI/src/Util/GeolocationDbUpdater.php b/module/CLI/src/Util/GeolocationDbUpdater.php
index fd40fc15..b8f5b756 100644
--- a/module/CLI/src/Util/GeolocationDbUpdater.php
+++ b/module/CLI/src/Util/GeolocationDbUpdater.php
@@ -6,11 +6,14 @@ namespace Shlinkio\Shlink\CLI\Util;
 
 use Cake\Chronos\Chronos;
 use GeoIp2\Database\Reader;
+use MaxMind\Db\Reader\Metadata;
 use Shlinkio\Shlink\CLI\Exception\GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException;
 use Shlinkio\Shlink\IpGeolocation\Exception\RuntimeException;
 use Shlinkio\Shlink\IpGeolocation\GeoLite2\DbUpdaterInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Lock\LockFactory;
 
+use function is_int;
+
 class GeolocationDbUpdater implements GeolocationDbUpdaterInterface
 {
     private const LOCK_NAME = 'geolocation-db-update';
@@ -52,7 +55,7 @@ class GeolocationDbUpdater implements GeolocationDbUpdaterInterface
         }
 
         $meta = $this->geoLiteDbReader->metadata();
-        if ($this->buildIsTooOld($meta->buildEpoch)) {
+        if ($this->buildIsTooOld($meta)) {
             $this->downloadNewDb(true, $mustBeUpdated, $handleProgress);
         }
     }
@@ -69,14 +72,37 @@ class GeolocationDbUpdater implements GeolocationDbUpdaterInterface
         try {
             $this->dbUpdater->downloadFreshCopy($handleProgress);
         } catch (RuntimeException $e) {
-            throw GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::create($olderDbExists, $e);
+            throw $olderDbExists
+                ? GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::withOlderDb($e)
+                : GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::withoutOlderDb($e);
         }
     }
 
-    private function buildIsTooOld(int $buildTimestamp): bool
+    private function buildIsTooOld(Metadata $meta): bool
     {
+        $buildTimestamp = $this->resolveBuildTimestamp($meta);
         $buildDate = Chronos::createFromTimestamp($buildTimestamp);
         $now = Chronos::now();
+
         return $now->gt($buildDate->addDays(35));
     }
+
+    private function resolveBuildTimestamp(Metadata $meta): int
+    {
+        // In theory the buildEpoch should be an int, but it has been reported to come as a string.
+        // See https://github.com/shlinkio/shlink/issues/1002 for context
+
+        /** @var int|string $buildEpoch */
+        $buildEpoch = $meta->buildEpoch;
+        if (is_int($buildEpoch)) {
+            return $buildEpoch;
+        }
+
+        $intBuildEpoch = (int) $buildEpoch;
+        if ($buildEpoch === (string) $intBuildEpoch) {
+            return $intBuildEpoch;
+        }
+
+        throw GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::withInvalidEpochInOldDb($buildEpoch);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/module/CLI/test/Command/Visit/LocateVisitsCommandTest.php b/module/CLI/test/Command/Visit/LocateVisitsCommandTest.php
index fc64d643..5ba0778a 100644
--- a/module/CLI/test/Command/Visit/LocateVisitsCommandTest.php
+++ b/module/CLI/test/Command/Visit/LocateVisitsCommandTest.php
@@ -217,7 +217,9 @@ class LocateVisitsCommandTest extends TestCase
                 $mustBeUpdated($olderDbExists);
                 $handleProgress(100, 50);
 
-                throw GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::create($olderDbExists);
+                throw $olderDbExists
+                    ? GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::withOlderDb()
+                    : GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::withoutOlderDb();
             },
         );
 
diff --git a/module/CLI/test/Exception/GeolocationDbUpdateFailedExceptionTest.php b/module/CLI/test/Exception/GeolocationDbUpdateFailedExceptionTest.php
index 33d7d76e..470aed2c 100644
--- a/module/CLI/test/Exception/GeolocationDbUpdateFailedExceptionTest.php
+++ b/module/CLI/test/Exception/GeolocationDbUpdateFailedExceptionTest.php
@@ -14,26 +14,54 @@ class GeolocationDbUpdateFailedExceptionTest extends TestCase
 {
     /**
      * @test
-     * @dataProvider provideCreateArgs
+     * @dataProvider providePrev
      */
-    public function createBuildsException(bool $olderDbExists, ?Throwable $prev): void
+    public function withOlderDbBuildsException(?Throwable $prev): void
     {
-        $e = GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::create($olderDbExists, $prev);
+        $e = GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::withOlderDb($prev);
 
-        self::assertEquals($olderDbExists, $e->olderDbExists());
+        self::assertTrue($e->olderDbExists());
         self::assertEquals(
-            'An error occurred while updating geolocation database, and an older version could not be found',
+            'An error occurred while updating geolocation database, but an older DB is already present.',
             $e->getMessage(),
         );
         self::assertEquals(0, $e->getCode());
         self::assertEquals($prev, $e->getPrevious());
     }
 
-    public function provideCreateArgs(): iterable
+    /**
+     * @test
+     * @dataProvider providePrev
+     */
+    public function withoutOlderDbBuildsException(?Throwable $prev): void
     {
-        yield 'older DB and no prev' => [true, null];
-        yield 'older DB and prev' => [true, new RuntimeException('prev')];
-        yield 'no older DB and no prev' => [false, null];
-        yield 'no older DB and prev' => [false, new Exception('prev')];
+        $e = GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::withoutOlderDb($prev);
+
+        self::assertFalse($e->olderDbExists());
+        self::assertEquals(
+            'An error occurred while updating geolocation database, and an older version could not be found.',
+            $e->getMessage(),
+        );
+        self::assertEquals(0, $e->getCode());
+        self::assertEquals($prev, $e->getPrevious());
+    }
+
+    public function providePrev(): iterable
+    {
+        yield 'no prev' => [null];
+        yield 'RuntimeException' => [new RuntimeException('prev')];
+        yield 'Exception' => [new Exception('prev')];
+    }
+
+    /** @test */
+    public function withInvalidEpochInOldDbBuildsException(): void
+    {
+        $e = GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::withInvalidEpochInOldDb('foobar');
+
+        self::assertTrue($e->olderDbExists());
+        self::assertEquals(
+            'Build epoch with value "foobar" from existing geolocation database, could not be parsed to integer.',
+            $e->getMessage(),
+        );
     }
 }
diff --git a/module/Core/test/EventDispatcher/LocateShortUrlVisitTest.php b/module/Core/test/EventDispatcher/LocateShortUrlVisitTest.php
index fdb5bfec..4d348528 100644
--- a/module/Core/test/EventDispatcher/LocateShortUrlVisitTest.php
+++ b/module/Core/test/EventDispatcher/LocateShortUrlVisitTest.php
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ class LocateShortUrlVisitTest extends TestCase
     /** @test */
     public function errorWhenUpdatingGeoLiteWithExistingCopyLogsWarning(): void
     {
-        $e = GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::create(true);
+        $e = GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::withOlderDb();
         $ipAddr = '1.2.3.0';
         $visit = new Visit(ShortUrl::createEmpty(), new Visitor('', '', $ipAddr));
         $location = new Location('', '', '', '', 0.0, 0.0, '');
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ class LocateShortUrlVisitTest extends TestCase
     /** @test */
     public function errorWhenDownloadingGeoLiteCancelsLocation(): void
     {
-        $e = GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::create(false);
+        $e = GeolocationDbUpdateFailedException::withoutOlderDb();
         $ipAddr = '1.2.3.0';
         $visit = new Visit(ShortUrl::createEmpty(), new Visitor('', '', $ipAddr));
         $location = new Location('', '', '', '', 0.0, 0.0, '');