diff --git a/javaobj.py b/javaobj.py
index 79da5f4..821bee7 100644
--- a/javaobj.py
+++ b/javaobj.py
@@ -126,6 +126,9 @@ def read_to_str(data):
         """
         return ''.join(chr(char) for char in data)
 
+    unichr = chr
+    unicode = str
+
 else:
     # Python 2 interpreter : str & unicode
     def to_str(data, encoding="UTF-8"):
@@ -981,7 +984,11 @@ def do_array(self, parent=None, ident=0):
         else:
             for _ in range(size):
                 res = self._read_value(type_char, ident)
-                log_debug("Native value: {0}".format(res), ident)
+                _res = res
+                # py2
+                if str is not unicode and isinstance(res, unicode):
+                    _res = res.encode('ascii', 'replace')
+                log_debug("Native value: {0}".format(_res), ident)
                 array.append(res)
 
         return array
@@ -1072,16 +1079,15 @@ def _read_value(self, field_type, ident, name=""):
             # We don't need details for arrays and objects
             field_type = field_type[0]
 
+        _res = None
         if field_type == self.TYPE_BOOLEAN:
             (val,) = self._readStruct(">B")
             res = bool(val)
         elif field_type == self.TYPE_BYTE:
             (res,) = self._readStruct(">b")
         elif field_type == self.TYPE_CHAR:
-            # TYPE_CHAR is defined by the serialization specification
-            # but not used in the implementation, so this is
-            # a hypothetical code
-            res = bytes(self._readStruct(">bb")).decode("utf-16-be")
+            _res = self._readStruct(">H")[0]
+            res = unichr(_res)
         elif field_type == self.TYPE_SHORT:
             (res,) = self._readStruct(">h")
         elif field_type == self.TYPE_INTEGER:
@@ -1097,7 +1103,10 @@ def _read_value(self, field_type, ident, name=""):
         else:
             raise RuntimeError("Unknown typecode: {0}".format(field_type))
 
-        log_debug("* {0} {1}: {2}".format(field_type, name, res), ident)
+        if _res is None:
+            _res = res
+
+        log_debug("* {0} {1}: {2}".format(field_type, name, _res), ident)
         return res
 
     def _convert_char_to_type(self, type_char):
@@ -1513,7 +1522,10 @@ def write_array(self, obj):
         else:
             log_debug("Write array of type %s" % type_char)
             for v in obj:
-                log_debug("Writing: %s" % v)
+                _v = v
+                if str is not unicode and isinstance(v, unicode):
+                    _v = v.encode('ascii', 'replace')
+                log_debug("Writing: %s" % _v)
                 self._write_value(type_char, v)
 
     def _write_value(self, field_type, value):
@@ -1531,6 +1543,8 @@ def _write_value(self, field_type, value):
             self._writeStruct(">B", 1, (1 if value else 0,))
         elif field_type == self.TYPE_BYTE:
             self._writeStruct(">b", 1, (value,))
+        elif field_type == self.TYPE_CHAR:
+            self._writeStruct(">H", 1, (ord(value),))
         elif field_type == self.TYPE_SHORT:
             self._writeStruct(">h", 1, (value,))
         elif field_type == self.TYPE_INTEGER:
diff --git a/tests/testCharArray.ser b/tests/testCharArray.ser
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e551fc
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/testCharArray.ser differ
diff --git a/tests/tests.py b/tests/tests.py
index 3247cf6..cfe358f 100644
--- a/tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/tests.py
@@ -280,6 +280,13 @@ def test_arrays(self):
 
         self._try_marshalling(jobj, pobj)
 
+    def test_char_array(self):
+        jobj = self.read_file("testCharArray.ser")
+        pobj = javaobj.loads(jobj)
+        _logger.debug(pobj)
+        self.assertEqual(pobj, [u'\u0000', u'\ud800', u'\u0001', u'\udc00', u'\u0002', u'\uffff', u'\u0003'])
+        self._try_marshalling(jobj, pobj)
+
     def test_enums(self):
         jobj = self.read_file("objEnums.ser")
         pobj = javaobj.loads(jobj)