diff --git a/test/core/database/mysql_grid_types_test.dart b/test/core/database/mysql_grid_types_test.dart
index c3911da8..7f885e76 100644
--- a/test/core/database/mysql_grid_types_test.dart
+++ b/test/core/database/mysql_grid_types_test.dart
@@ -147,4 +147,86 @@ void main() {
       expect(identical(res1, res2), isTrue);
     });
   });
+
+  group('mysqlColumnHoldsRawBytes', () {
+    const binary = mysqlCharsetBinary;
+    const utf8mb4 = 255;
+
+    test('numbers, dates, JSON, ENUM and SET are text even with charset 63',
+        () {
+      // The server reports charset 63 for every non-string column; read as
+      // bytes, an INT 10 showed as 0x3130 in the grid.
+      for (final type in [
+        mysqlColumnTypeTiny,
+        mysqlColumnTypeShort,
+        mysqlColumnTypeLong,
+        mysqlColumnTypeLongLong,
+        mysqlColumnTypeInt24,
+        mysqlColumnTypeNewDecimal,
+        mysqlColumnTypeFloat,
+        mysqlColumnTypeDouble,
+        mysqlColumnTypeDate,
+        mysqlColumnTypeTime,
+        mysqlColumnTypeDateTime,
+        mysqlColumnTypeTimestamp,
+        mysqlColumnTypeYear,
+        0xf5, // JSON
+        mysqlColumnTypeEnum,
+        mysqlColumnTypeSet,
+      ]) {
+        expect(
+          mysqlColumnHoldsRawBytes(columnType: type, charset: binary),
+          isFalse,
+          reason: 'type 0x${type.toRadixString(16)}',
+        );
+      }
+    });
+
+    test('BINARY, VARBINARY and BLOB (charset 63) are bytes', () {
+      for (final type in [
+        mysqlColumnTypeString,
+        mysqlColumnTypeVarString,
+        mysqlColumnTypeVarChar,
+        mysqlColumnTypeTinyBlob,
+        mysqlColumnTypeBlob,
+        mysqlColumnTypeMediumBlob,
+        mysqlColumnTypeLongBlob,
+      ]) {
+        expect(
+          mysqlColumnHoldsRawBytes(columnType: type, charset: binary),
+          isTrue,
+          reason: 'type 0x${type.toRadixString(16)}',
+        );
+      }
+    });
+
+    test('CHAR, VARCHAR and TEXT with a text charset are text', () {
+      for (final type in [
+        mysqlColumnTypeString,
+        mysqlColumnTypeVarString,
+        mysqlColumnTypeBlob, // TEXT is a BLOB type
+        mysqlColumnTypeMediumBlob,
+        mysqlColumnTypeLongBlob,
+      ]) {
+        expect(
+          mysqlColumnHoldsRawBytes(columnType: type, charset: utf8mb4),
+          isFalse,
+          reason: 'type 0x${type.toRadixString(16)}',
+        );
+      }
+    });
+
+    test('BIT and GEOMETRY are always bytes', () {
+      expect(
+        mysqlColumnHoldsRawBytes(
+            columnType: mysqlColumnTypeBit, charset: binary),
+        isTrue,
+      );
+      expect(
+        mysqlColumnHoldsRawBytes(
+            columnType: mysqlColumnTypeGeometry, charset: binary),
+        isTrue,
+      );
+    });
+  });
 }
diff --git a/third_party/mysql_client/lib/src/mysql_protocol/mysql_column_type.dart b/third_party/mysql_client/lib/src/mysql_protocol/mysql_column_type.dart
index 9fcae8c9..65e63d25 100644
--- a/third_party/mysql_client/lib/src/mysql_protocol/mysql_column_type.dart
+++ b/third_party/mysql_client/lib/src/mysql_protocol/mysql_column_type.dart
@@ -42,16 +42,23 @@ bool mysqlColumnHoldsRawBytes({
   required int columnType,
   required int charset,
 }) {
-  if (charset == mysqlCharsetBinary) {
-    return true;
-  }
   switch (columnType) {
     case mysqlColumnTypeBit:
+    case mysqlColumnTypeGeometry:
+      return true;
+    // A string or BLOB column holds bytes only with the binary character set
+    // (BINARY, VARBINARY, BLOB); TEXT is a BLOB type with a text character set.
+    case mysqlColumnTypeVarChar:
+    case mysqlColumnTypeVarString:
+    case mysqlColumnTypeString:
     case mysqlColumnTypeTinyBlob:
     case mysqlColumnTypeMediumBlob:
     case mysqlColumnTypeLongBlob:
     case mysqlColumnTypeBlob:
-      return true;
+      return charset == mysqlCharsetBinary;
+    // Numbers, dates, JSON, ENUM / SET: the server reports charset 63 for
+    // every non-string column, so it says nothing about bytes here. Taken as
+    // bytes, an INT 10 showed as 0x3130 in the grid.
     default:
       return false;
   }