diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d7c2b72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+*.pyc
+dist
+*.egg-info
diff --git a/nullablecharfield/forms/fields.py b/nullablecharfield/forms/fields.py
index 68ff6d3..ca058e5 100644
--- a/nullablecharfield/forms/fields.py
+++ b/nullablecharfield/forms/fields.py
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 from django.forms.fields import CharField
-from django.utils.encoding import smart_str
 from nullablecharfield.widgets import NullableTextWidget
 
 class CharNullField(CharField):
@@ -16,7 +15,4 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
     def to_python(self, value):
         if value is None:
             return None
-        return smart_str(value)
-
-    def get_db_prep_value(self, value):
-        return value
+        return super(CharNullField, self).to_python(value)