diff --git a/_mysql.c b/_mysql.c
index df8bd1b..1806cc5 100644
--- a/_mysql.c
+++ b/_mysql.c
@@ -1372,7 +1372,8 @@ _mysql_field_to_python(
 		field_type == FIELD_TYPE_LONG_BLOB ||
 		field_type == FIELD_TYPE_BLOB ||
 		field_type == FIELD_TYPE_VAR_STRING ||
-		field_type == FIELD_TYPE_STRING) {
+		field_type == FIELD_TYPE_STRING ||
+		field_type == FIELD_TYPE_BIT) {
 			binary = 1;
 	}
 #endif
diff --git a/tests/test_MySQLdb_capabilities.py b/tests/test_MySQLdb_capabilities.py
index 432fd84..ec4ecd2 100644
--- a/tests/test_MySQLdb_capabilities.py
+++ b/tests/test_MySQLdb_capabilities.py
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ class test_MySQLdb(capabilities.DatabaseTest):
             row = c.fetchone()
             self.assertEqual(row[0], b'\x03')
             self.assertEqual(row[1], b'\x03\xff')
-            self.assertEqual(row[2], 'b\xff'*8)
+            self.assertEqual(row[2], b'\xff'*8)
         finally:
             c.execute("drop table if exists test_BIT")