diff --git a/src/components/slides/slides.ts b/src/components/slides/slides.ts
index 8abc12d2496..b4fc4062843 100644
--- a/src/components/slides/slides.ts
+++ b/src/components/slides/slides.ts
@@ -353,9 +353,9 @@ export class Slides extends Ion {
     return this._slidesPerView;
   }
   set slidesPerView(val: any) {
-    this._slidesPerView = parseInt(val, 10);
+    this._slidesPerView = val === 'auto' ? 'auto' : parseInt(val, 10);
   }
-  private _slidesPerView = 1;
+  private _slidesPerView: number|string = 1;
 
   /**
    * @private