diff --git a/edb/pgsql/ast.py b/edb/pgsql/ast.py
index 2f0b948215d..b87f18b38a1 100644
--- a/edb/pgsql/ast.py
+++ b/edb/pgsql/ast.py
@@ -742,8 +742,17 @@ class NullConstant(BaseConstant):
     nullable: bool = True
 
 
+class BitStringConstant(BaseConstant):
+    """A bit string constant."""
+
+    # x or b
+    kind: str
+
+    val: str
+
+
 class ByteaConstant(BaseConstant):
-    """An bytea string."""
+    """A bytea string."""
 
     val: bytes
 
diff --git a/edb/pgsql/codegen.py b/edb/pgsql/codegen.py
index 7cd8876f5d4..ab0a7bf6064 100644
--- a/edb/pgsql/codegen.py
+++ b/edb/pgsql/codegen.py
@@ -765,6 +765,9 @@ def visit_BooleanConstant(self, node: pgast.BooleanConstant) -> None:
     def visit_StringConstant(self, node: pgast.StringConstant) -> None:
         self.write(common.quote_literal(node.val))
 
+    def visit_BitStringConstant(self, node: pgast.BitStringConstant) -> None:
+        self.write(f"{node.kind}'{node.val}'")
+
     def visit_ByteaConstant(self, node: pgast.ByteaConstant) -> None:
         self.write(common.quote_bytea_literal(node.val))
 
diff --git a/edb/pgsql/parser/ast_builder.py b/edb/pgsql/parser/ast_builder.py
index 5e5157614a5..71d2b35e039 100644
--- a/edb/pgsql/parser/ast_builder.py
+++ b/edb/pgsql/parser/ast_builder.py
@@ -900,8 +900,7 @@ def _build_const(n: Node, c: Context) -> pgast.BaseConstant:
         n = _unwrap(n, 'str')
         n = _unwrap(n, 'bsval')
         n = _unwrap(n, 'bsval')
-        val = bytes.fromhex(n[1:])
-        return pgast.ByteaConstant(val=val, span=span)
+        return pgast.BitStringConstant(kind=n[0], val=n[1:], span=span)
     raise PSqlUnsupportedError(n)
 
 
diff --git a/edb/server/bootstrap.py b/edb/server/bootstrap.py
index d2646cc6977..8d203e89164 100644
--- a/edb/server/bootstrap.py
+++ b/edb/server/bootstrap.py
@@ -503,7 +503,7 @@ async def _store_static_bin_cache_conn(
         INSERT INTO edgedbinstdata_VER.instdata (key, bin)
         VALUES(
             {pg_common.quote_literal(key)},
-            {pg_common.quote_bytea_literal(data)}::bytea
+            {pg_common.quote_bytea_literal(data)}
         )
     """)
 
@@ -1060,7 +1060,7 @@ def prepare_patch(
         if k in bins:
             if k not in rawbin:
                 v = pickle.dumps(v, protocol=pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)
-            val = f'{pg_common.quote_bytea_literal(v)}::bytea'
+            val = f'{pg_common.quote_bytea_literal(v)}'
             sys_updates += (trampoline.fixup_query(f'''
                 INSERT INTO edgedbinstdata_VER.instdata (key, bin)
                 VALUES({key}, {val})
diff --git a/tests/test_sql_query.py b/tests/test_sql_query.py
index 2e4c994350e..f42e200bf67 100644
--- a/tests/test_sql_query.py
+++ b/tests/test_sql_query.py
@@ -772,9 +772,19 @@ async def test_sql_query_40(self):
         self.assertEqual(res, [[id]])
 
     async def test_sql_query_41(self):
-        # bytea literal
+        from asyncpg.types import BitString
+
+        # bit string literal
         res = await self.squery_values("SELECT x'00abcdef00';")
-        self.assertEqual(res, [[b'\x00\xab\xcd\xef\x00']])
+        self.assertEqual(res, [[BitString.frombytes(b'\x00\xab\xcd\xef\x00')]])
+
+        res = await self.squery_values("SELECT x'01001ab';")
+        self.assertEqual(
+            res, [[BitString.frombytes(b'\x01\x00\x1a\xb0', bitlength=28)]]
+        )
+
+        res = await self.squery_values("SELECT b'101';")
+        self.assertEqual(res, [[BitString.frombytes(b'\xa0', bitlength=3)]])
 
     async def test_sql_query_42(self):
         # params out of order