diff --git a/betterproto-extras/src/merging.rs b/betterproto-extras/src/merging.rs
index e7bb593..af8b26c 100644
--- a/betterproto-extras/src/merging.rs
+++ b/betterproto-extras/src/merging.rs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ fn map_field_value(field_name: &str, field_value: Value, proto_meta: &PyAny) ->
     let py = proto_meta.py();
     match field_value {
         Value::Bool(x) => Ok(x.to_object(py)),
-        Value::Bytes(x) => Ok(x.to_object(py)),
+        Value::Bytes(x) => Ok(PyBytes::new(py, &x).to_object(py)),
         Value::F32(x) => Ok(x.to_object(py)),
         Value::F64(x) => Ok(x.to_object(py)),
         Value::I32(x) => Ok(x.to_object(py)),
diff --git a/example.py b/example.py
index 75a97fd..86f1d9b 100644
--- a/example.py
+++ b/example.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ class Bar(betterproto.Message):
     enm: Enm = betterproto.enum_field(4)
     map: Dict[int, bool] = betterproto.map_field(5, betterproto.TYPE_INT64, betterproto.TYPE_BOOL)
     maybe: Optional[bool] = betterproto.message_field(6, wraps=betterproto.TYPE_BOOL)
+    bts: bytes = betterproto.bytes_field(7)
 
 # Serialization has not been changed yet. So nothing unusual here
 buffer = bytes(
@@ -44,7 +45,8 @@ buffer = bytes(
             1: True,
             42: False
         },
-        maybe=True
+        maybe=True,
+        bts=b'Hi There!'
     )
 )