diff --git a/lib/mysql/schema/convert.go b/lib/mysql/schema/convert.go
index a7e34e2f..4b01b33f 100644
--- a/lib/mysql/schema/convert.go
+++ b/lib/mysql/schema/convert.go
@@ -141,12 +141,14 @@ func ConvertValue(value any, colType DataType, opts *Opts) (any, error) {
 		}
 		return value, nil
 	case Binary, Varbinary, Blob:
-		// Types we expect as a byte array
-		_, ok := value.([]byte)
-		if !ok {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected []byte got %T for value: %v", value, value)
+		switch castedValue := value.(type) {
+		case string:
+			return []byte(castedValue), nil
+		case []byte:
+			return castedValue, nil
+		default:
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("expected []byte or string got %T for value: %v", value, value)
 		}
-		return value, nil
 	case Date:
 		// MySQL supports 0000-00-00 for dates so we can't use time.Time
 		return asString(value)
diff --git a/lib/mysql/schema/convert_test.go b/lib/mysql/schema/convert_test.go
index e5e64c57..5bd71100 100644
--- a/lib/mysql/schema/convert_test.go
+++ b/lib/mysql/schema/convert_test.go
@@ -232,8 +232,8 @@ func TestConvertValue(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name:        "binary - malformed",
 			dataType:    Binary,
-			value:       "bad binary",
-			expectedErr: "expected []byte got string for value",
+			value:       true,
+			expectedErr: "expected []byte or string got bool for value",
 		},
 		{
 			name:     "varbinary",