diff --git a/maths/power_using_recursion.py b/maths/power_using_recursion.py
index f82097f6d8ec..7aa5b3669450 100644
--- a/maths/power_using_recursion.py
+++ b/maths/power_using_recursion.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 """
 
 
-def power(base: int, exponent: int) -> float:
+def power(base: int, exponent: int) -> int:
     """
     power(3, 4)
     81
@@ -23,7 +23,14 @@ def power(base: int, exponent: int) -> float:
     ...     for base in range(-10, 10) for exponent in range(10))
     True
     """
-    return base * power(base, (exponent - 1)) if exponent else 1
+    if exponent == 0:
+        return 1
+    if exponent == 1:
+        return base
+    if exponent % 2 == 0:
+        return power(base * base, exponent // 2)
+    else:
+        return base * power(base * base, (exponent - 1) // 2)
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
@@ -32,5 +39,5 @@ def power(base: int, exponent: int) -> float:
     exponent = int(input("Enter the exponent: ").strip())
     result = power(base, abs(exponent))
     if exponent < 0:  # power() does not properly deal w/ negative exponents
-        result = 1 / result
+        result = 1.0 / result
     print(f"{base} to the power of {exponent} is {result}")