diff --git a/slsDetectorSoftware/src/CallerSpecial.cpp b/slsDetectorSoftware/src/CallerSpecial.cpp
index 60e0df45c..a2975d758 100644
--- a/slsDetectorSoftware/src/CallerSpecial.cpp
+++ b/slsDetectorSoftware/src/CallerSpecial.cpp
@@ -1014,15 +1014,16 @@ std::string Caller::counters(int action) {
         if (args.empty()) {
             WrongNumberOfParameters(1);
         }
-        if (std::any_of(args.cbegin(), args.cend(), [](std::string s) {
-                return (StringTo<int>(s) < 0 || StringTo<int>(s) > 2);
+        //convert args to string and then to a vector of ints
+        auto counters = StringTo<std::vector<int>>( ToString(args));
+        if (std::any_of(counters.cbegin(), counters.cend(), [](int val) {
+                return (val < 0 || val > 2);
             })) {
             throw RuntimeError("Invalid counter indices list. Example: 0 1 2");
         }
         // convert vector to counter enable mask
         uint32_t mask = 0;
-        for (size_t i = 0; i < args.size(); ++i) {
-            int val = StringTo<int>(args[i]);
+        for (auto val : counters) {
             // already enabled earlier
             if (mask & (1 << val)) {
                 std::ostringstream oss;