diff --git a/src/_bcrypt/src/lib.rs b/src/_bcrypt/src/lib.rs
index 7cd16658..20e2a1e7 100644
--- a/src/_bcrypt/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/_bcrypt/src/lib.rs
@@ -136,6 +136,18 @@ fn hashpw<'p>(
     ))
 }
 
+
+#[pyo3::pyfunction]
+fn hashpw_from_string<'p>(
+    py: pyo3::Python<'p>,
+    password: String,
+    salt: &[u8],
+) -> pyo3::PyResult<pyo3::Bound<'p, pyo3::types::PyBytes>> {
+    hashpw(py, password.as_bytes(), salt)
+}
+
+
+
 #[pyo3::pyfunction]
 fn checkpw(py: pyo3::Python<'_>, password: &[u8], hashed_password: &[u8]) -> pyo3::PyResult<bool> {
     Ok(hashpw(py, password, hashed_password)?
@@ -144,6 +156,16 @@ fn checkpw(py: pyo3::Python<'_>, password: &[u8], hashed_password: &[u8]) -> pyo
         .into())
 }
 
+#[pyo3::pyfunction]
+fn checkpw_from_string<'p>(
+    py: pyo3::Python<'p>,
+    password: String,
+    hashed_password: String
+) -> pyo3::PyResult<bool> {
+    checkpw(py, password.as_bytes(), hashed_password.as_bytes())
+}
+
+
 #[pyo3::pyfunction]
 #[pyo3(signature = (password, salt, desired_key_bytes, rounds, ignore_few_rounds=false))]
 fn kdf<'p>(
@@ -197,7 +219,14 @@ mod _bcrypt {
     use pyo3::types::PyModuleMethods;
 
     #[pymodule_export]
-    use super::{checkpw, gensalt, hashpw, kdf};
+    use super::{
+        checkpw, 
+        checkpw_from_string, 
+        gensalt, 
+        hashpw, 
+        hashpw_from_string,
+        kdf
+    };
 
     // Not yet possible to add constants declaratively.
     #[pymodule_init]
diff --git a/src/bcrypt/__init__.pyi b/src/bcrypt/__init__.pyi
index 12e4a2ef..bceb51a7 100644
--- a/src/bcrypt/__init__.pyi
+++ b/src/bcrypt/__init__.pyi
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 def gensalt(rounds: int = 12, prefix: bytes = b"2b") -> bytes: ...
 def hashpw(password: bytes, salt: bytes) -> bytes: ...
+def hashpw_from_string(password:str, salt: bytes) -> bytes:...
 def checkpw(password: bytes, hashed_password: bytes) -> bool: ...
+def checkpw_from_string(password:str, hashed_password:str) -> bool:...
 def kdf(
     password: bytes,
     salt: bytes,
diff --git a/tests/test_bcrypt.py b/tests/test_bcrypt.py
index c995bcb5..fd4651ee 100644
--- a/tests/test_bcrypt.py
+++ b/tests/test_bcrypt.py
@@ -490,6 +490,10 @@ def test_invalid_params(password, salt, desired_key_bytes, rounds, error):
     with pytest.raises(error):
         bcrypt.kdf(password, salt, desired_key_bytes, rounds)
 
+def test_unicode():
+    hash_ = bcrypt.hashpw_from_string("password", bcrypt.gensalt())
+    assert bcrypt.checkpw_from_string("password", hash_.decode('utf-8'))
+
 
 def test_multithreading():
     def create_user(pw):