diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c b/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c
index 75ee73a..3af0b23 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/cursor.c
@@ -267,11 +267,6 @@ PyObject* _pysqlite_build_column_name(const char* colname)
     }
 }
 
-PyObject* pysqlite_unicode_from_string(const char* val_str, int optimize)
-{
-    return PyUnicode_FromString(val_str);
-}
-
 /*
  * Returns a row from the currently active SQLite statement
  *
@@ -354,12 +349,11 @@ PyObject* _pysqlite_fetch_one_row(pysqlite_Cursor* self)
                 converted = PyFloat_FromDouble(sqlite3_column_double(self->statement->st, i));
             } else if (coltype == SQLITE_TEXT) {
                 val_str = (const char*)sqlite3_column_text(self->statement->st, i);
+                nbytes = sqlite3_column_bytes(self->statement->st, i);
                 if ((self->connection->text_factory == (PyObject*)&PyUnicode_Type)
                     || (self->connection->text_factory == pysqlite_OptimizedUnicode)) {
 
-                    converted = pysqlite_unicode_from_string(val_str,
-                        self->connection->text_factory == pysqlite_OptimizedUnicode ? 1 : 0);
-
+                    converted = PyUnicode_FromStringAndSize(val_str, nbytes);
                     if (!converted) {
                         colname = sqlite3_column_name(self->statement->st, i);
                         if (!colname) {
@@ -382,9 +376,9 @@ PyObject* _pysqlite_fetch_one_row(pysqlite_Cursor* self)
                         }
                     }
                 } else if (self->connection->text_factory == (PyObject*)&PyBytes_Type) {
-                    converted = PyBytes_FromString(val_str);
+                    converted = PyBytes_FromStringAndSize(val_str, nbytes);
                 } else if (self->connection->text_factory == (PyObject*)&PyByteArray_Type) {
-                    converted = PyByteArray_FromStringAndSize(val_str, strlen(val_str));
+                    converted = PyByteArray_FromStringAndSize(val_str, nbytes);
                 } else {
                     converted = PyObject_CallFunction(self->connection->text_factory, "y", val_str);
                 }
diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c b/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c
index 4e039c1..cc9c310 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/statement.c
@@ -129,9 +129,9 @@ int pysqlite_statement_bind_parameter(pysqlite_Statement* self, int pos, PyObjec
             rc = sqlite3_bind_double(self->st, pos, PyFloat_AsDouble(parameter));
             break;
         case TYPE_UNICODE:
-            string = _PyUnicode_AsString(parameter);
+            string = _PyUnicode_AsStringAndSize(parameter, &buflen);
             if (string != NULL)
-                rc = sqlite3_bind_text(self->st, pos, string, -1, SQLITE_TRANSIENT);
+                rc = sqlite3_bind_text(self->st, pos, string, buflen, SQLITE_TRANSIENT);
             else
                 rc = -1;
             break;