diff --git a/sqlite-ffi.lisp b/sqlite-ffi.lisp
index 09964f7..82f6017 100644
--- a/sqlite-ffi.lisp
+++ b/sqlite-ffi.lisp
@@ -127,10 +127,17 @@
   (statement p-sqlite3-stmt)
   (column-number :int))
 
-(defcfun sqlite3-column-text :string
+(defcfun ("sqlite3_column_text" sqlite3-column-text-pointer) :pointer
   (statement p-sqlite3-stmt)
   (column-number :int))
 
+(defun sqlite3-column-text (statement column-number)
+  "Wraper around sqlite3-column-text-pointer to deal with strings
+   containing embedded NULs."
+  (cffi:foreign-string-to-lisp
+   (sqlite3-column-text-pointer statement column-number)
+   :count (sqlite3-column-bytes statement column-number)))
+
 (defcfun sqlite3-column-int64 :int64
   (statement p-sqlite3-stmt)
   (column-number :int))
diff --git a/sqlite-tests.lisp b/sqlite-tests.lisp
index a401219..55bc582 100644
--- a/sqlite-tests.lisp
+++ b/sqlite-tests.lisp
@@ -107,6 +107,14 @@
                (is (equalp (fetch-all) '()))))
         (finalize-statement statement)))))
 
+(test test-text-containing-null-bytes
+  (let ((string-with-nulls (concatenate 'string "foo" '(#\null) "bar" '(#\null) "baz")))
+    (with-open-database (db ":memory:")
+      (execute-non-query db "create table test (str text)")
+      (execute-non-query db "insert into test (str) values (?)" string-with-nulls)
+      (is (string= (execute-single db "select str from test")
+                   string-with-nulls)))))
+
 #+thread-support
 (defparameter *db-file* "/tmp/test.sqlite")
 
diff --git a/sqlite.asd b/sqlite.asd
index 0e292f2..f4408f1 100644
--- a/sqlite.asd
+++ b/sqlite.asd
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
                (:file "cache")
                (:file "sqlite" :depends-on ("sqlite-ffi" "cache")))
 
-  :depends-on (:iterate :cffi)
+  :depends-on (:iterate :cffi :babel)
 
   :in-order-to ((test-op (load-op sqlite-tests))))
 
diff --git a/sqlite.lisp b/sqlite.lisp
index de0f97d..d875ff1 100644
--- a/sqlite.lisp
+++ b/sqlite.lisp
@@ -385,7 +385,9 @@ Supported types:
                         (integer (sqlite-ffi:sqlite3-bind-int64 (handle statement) index value))
                         (double-float (sqlite-ffi:sqlite3-bind-double (handle statement) index value))
                         (real (sqlite-ffi:sqlite3-bind-double (handle statement) index (coerce value 'double-float)))
-                        (string (sqlite-ffi:sqlite3-bind-text (handle statement) index value -1 (sqlite-ffi:destructor-transient)))
+                        (string (sqlite-ffi:sqlite3-bind-text (handle statement) index value
+                                                              (babel:string-size-in-octets value)
+                                                              (sqlite-ffi:destructor-transient)))
                         ((vector (unsigned-byte 8)) (cffi:with-pointer-to-vector-data (ptr value)
                                                       (sqlite-ffi:sqlite3-bind-blob (handle statement) index ptr (length value) (sqlite-ffi:destructor-transient))))
                         (vector (cffi:with-foreign-object (array :unsigned-char (length value))