diff --git a/opteryx/__version__.py b/opteryx/__version__.py
index 091a7bc2..f2430b63 100644
--- a/opteryx/__version__.py
+++ b/opteryx/__version__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-__build__ = 741
+__build__ = 742
 
 # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
diff --git a/opteryx/functions/__init__.py b/opteryx/functions/__init__.py
index 792feb35..67e32dab 100644
--- a/opteryx/functions/__init__.py
+++ b/opteryx/functions/__init__.py
@@ -103,6 +103,12 @@ def cast_varchar(arr):
     return compute.cast(arr, "string")
 
 
+def cast_blob(arr):
+    if len(arr) > 0 and all(i is None or type(i) == bytes for i in arr):
+        return arr
+    return compute.cast(arr, "binary")
+
+
 def fixed_value_function(function, context):
     from orso.types import OrsoTypes
 
@@ -321,7 +327,7 @@ def select_values(boolean_arrays, value_arrays):
     "STR": cast_varchar,
     "STRUCT": _iterate_single_parameter(lambda x: orjson.loads(str(x)) if x is not None else None),
     "DATE":  lambda x: compute.cast(x, pyarrow.date32()),
-    "BLOB": array_encode_utf8,
+    "BLOB": cast_blob,
     "TRY_TIMESTAMP": try_cast("TIMESTAMP"),
     "TRY_BOOLEAN": try_cast("BOOLEAN"),
     "TRY_NUMERIC": try_cast("DOUBLE"),