diff --git a/lib/erlang/transpile.sx b/lib/erlang/transpile.sx
index 12e14b6f..358acf2d 100644
--- a/lib/erlang/transpile.sx
+++ b/lib/erlang/transpile.sx
@@ -1485,9 +1485,15 @@
         (size (er-eval-binary-size (get seg :size) env)))
       (cond
         (= spec "integer")
-        (let
-          ((bits (if (= size nil) 8 size)))
-          (er-emit-int! out val bits))
+        (cond
+          (= (type-of val) "string")
+          (for-each
+            (fn (c) (er-emit-int! out (char->integer c) 8))
+            (string->list val))
+          :else
+          (let
+            ((bits (if (= size nil) 8 size)))
+            (er-emit-int! out val bits)))
         (= spec "binary")
         (cond
           (er-binary? val)