diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 966a8744a..be4eab769 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@
 [1]: https://pypi.org/project/google-cloud-bigquery/#history
 
 
+### [2.23.1](https://www.github.com/googleapis/python-bigquery/compare/v2.23.0...v2.23.1) (2021-07-28)
+
+
+### Bug Fixes
+
+* `insert_rows()` accepts float column values as strings again ([#824](https://www.github.com/googleapis/python-bigquery/issues/824)) ([d9378af](https://www.github.com/googleapis/python-bigquery/commit/d9378af13add879118a1d004529b811f72c325d6))
+
 ## [2.23.0](https://www.github.com/googleapis/python-bigquery/compare/v2.22.1...v2.23.0) (2021-07-27)
 
 
diff --git a/google/cloud/bigquery/_helpers.py b/google/cloud/bigquery/_helpers.py
index bf0f80e22..0a1f71444 100644
--- a/google/cloud/bigquery/_helpers.py
+++ b/google/cloud/bigquery/_helpers.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import decimal
 import math
 import re
+from typing import Union
 
 from google.cloud._helpers import UTC
 from google.cloud._helpers import _date_from_iso8601_date
@@ -338,14 +339,15 @@ def _int_to_json(value):
     return value
 
 
-def _float_to_json(value):
+def _float_to_json(value) -> Union[None, str, float]:
     """Coerce 'value' to an JSON-compatible representation."""
     if value is None:
         return None
-    elif math.isnan(value) or math.isinf(value):
-        return str(value)
-    else:
-        return float(value)
+
+    if isinstance(value, str):
+        value = float(value)
+
+    return str(value) if (math.isnan(value) or math.isinf(value)) else float(value)
 
 
 def _decimal_to_json(value):
diff --git a/google/cloud/bigquery/version.py b/google/cloud/bigquery/version.py
index 416bf20ed..0195d572c 100644
--- a/google/cloud/bigquery/version.py
+++ b/google/cloud/bigquery/version.py
@@ -12,4 +12,4 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-__version__ = "2.23.0"
+__version__ = "2.23.1"
diff --git a/samples/geography/requirements.txt b/samples/geography/requirements.txt
index 3a83eda64..0f9c3a2e3 100644
--- a/samples/geography/requirements.txt
+++ b/samples/geography/requirements.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 geojson==2.5.0
-google-cloud-bigquery==2.22.1
+google-cloud-bigquery==2.23.0
 google-cloud-bigquery-storage==2.6.0
 Shapely==1.7.1
diff --git a/samples/snippets/requirements.txt b/samples/snippets/requirements.txt
index ffa689a9e..81ef4df2f 100644
--- a/samples/snippets/requirements.txt
+++ b/samples/snippets/requirements.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-google-cloud-bigquery==2.22.1
+google-cloud-bigquery==2.23.0
 google-cloud-bigquery-storage==2.6.0
 google-auth-oauthlib==0.4.4
 grpcio==1.39.0
diff --git a/tests/unit/test__helpers.py b/tests/unit/test__helpers.py
index af026ccbe..f8d00e67d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test__helpers.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test__helpers.py
@@ -690,21 +690,45 @@ def _call_fut(self, value):
     def test_w_none(self):
         self.assertEqual(self._call_fut(None), None)
 
+    def test_w_non_numeric(self):
+        with self.assertRaises(TypeError):
+            self._call_fut(object())
+
+    def test_w_integer(self):
+        result = self._call_fut(123)
+        self.assertIsInstance(result, float)
+        self.assertEqual(result, 123.0)
+
     def test_w_float(self):
         self.assertEqual(self._call_fut(1.23), 1.23)
 
+    def test_w_float_as_string(self):
+        self.assertEqual(self._call_fut("1.23"), 1.23)
+
     def test_w_nan(self):
         result = self._call_fut(float("nan"))
         self.assertEqual(result.lower(), "nan")
 
+    def test_w_nan_as_string(self):
+        result = self._call_fut("NaN")
+        self.assertEqual(result.lower(), "nan")
+
     def test_w_infinity(self):
         result = self._call_fut(float("inf"))
         self.assertEqual(result.lower(), "inf")
 
+    def test_w_infinity_as_string(self):
+        result = self._call_fut("inf")
+        self.assertEqual(result.lower(), "inf")
+
     def test_w_negative_infinity(self):
         result = self._call_fut(float("-inf"))
         self.assertEqual(result.lower(), "-inf")
 
+    def test_w_negative_infinity_as_string(self):
+        result = self._call_fut("-inf")
+        self.assertEqual(result.lower(), "-inf")
+
 
 class Test_decimal_to_json(unittest.TestCase):
     def _call_fut(self, value):