diff --git a/Python/getargs.c b/Python/getargs.c
index 4b57153..b5c15e5 100644
--- a/Python/getargs.c
+++ b/Python/getargs.c
@@ -826,11 +826,17 @@ convertsimple(PyObject *arg, const char **p_format, va_list *p_va, int flags,
 
     case 'c': {/* char */
         char *p = va_arg(*p_va, char *);
-        if (PyBytes_Check(arg) && PyBytes_Size(arg) == 1)
-            *p = PyBytes_AS_STRING(arg)[0];
-        else
-            return converterr("a byte string of length 1", arg, msgbuf, bufsize);
-        break;
+        if (PyObject_CheckBuffer(arg)) {
+            Py_buffer buf;
+            if (PyObject_GetBuffer(arg, &buf, 0) == 0 && buf.len == 1) {
+                *p = ((char *)buf.buf)[0];
+                PyBuffer_Release(&buf);
+                break;
+            }
+            else
+                PyErr_Clear();
+        }
+        return converterr("a byte string or buffer of length 1", arg, msgbuf, bufsize);
     }
 
     case 'C': {/* unicode char */