diff --git a/include/rfl/Bytestring.hpp b/include/rfl/Bytestring.hpp
index 896be499..197531e5 100644
--- a/include/rfl/Bytestring.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/Bytestring.hpp
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 #define RFL_BYTESTRING_HPP_
 
 #include <cstddef>
-#include <string>
+#include <vector>
 
 namespace rfl {
 
-using Bytestring = std::basic_string<std::byte>;
+using Bytestring = std::vector<std::byte>;
 
 }  // namespace rfl
 
diff --git a/include/rfl/avro/Reader.hpp b/include/rfl/avro/Reader.hpp
index 3f7fd0be..1902949d 100644
--- a/include/rfl/avro/Reader.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/avro/Reader.hpp
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ struct Reader {
       if (err) {
         return error("Could not cast to bytestring.");
       }
-      return rfl::Bytestring(static_cast<const std::byte*>(ptr), size - 1);
+      const auto data = internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(ptr);
+      return rfl::Bytestring(data, data + size - 1);
     } else if constexpr (std::is_same<std::remove_cvref_t<T>, bool>()) {
       if (type != AVRO_BOOLEAN) {
         return rfl::error("Could not cast to boolean.");
diff --git a/include/rfl/bson/Reader.hpp b/include/rfl/bson/Reader.hpp
index 494dfc53..29fa045a 100644
--- a/include/rfl/bson/Reader.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/bson/Reader.hpp
@@ -120,9 +120,8 @@ struct Reader {
             "The BSON subtype must be a binary in order to read into a "
             "bytestring.");
       }
-      return rfl::Bytestring(
-          internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(value.v_binary.data),
-          value.v_binary.data_len);
+      const auto data = internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(value.v_binary.data)
+      return rfl::Bytestring(data, data + value.v_binary.data_len);
     } else if constexpr (std::is_same<std::remove_cvref_t<T>, bool>()) {
       if (btype != BSON_TYPE_BOOL) {
         return error("Could not cast to boolean.");
diff --git a/include/rfl/capnproto/Reader.hpp b/include/rfl/capnproto/Reader.hpp
index 5009a499..64b24869 100644
--- a/include/rfl/capnproto/Reader.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/capnproto/Reader.hpp
@@ -68,9 +68,8 @@ class Reader {
       if (type != capnp::DynamicValue::DATA) {
         return error("Could not cast to bytestring.");
       }
-      const auto data = _var.val_.as<capnp::Data>();
-      return rfl::Bytestring(internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(data.begin()),
-                             data.size());
+      const auto data = internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(_var.val_.as<capnp::Data>());
+      return rfl::Bytestring(data, data + data.size());
 
     } else if constexpr (std::is_same<std::remove_cvref_t<T>, bool>()) {
       if (type != capnp::DynamicValue::BOOL) {
diff --git a/include/rfl/cbor/Reader.hpp b/include/rfl/cbor/Reader.hpp
index bb01bf00..59e3d736 100644
--- a/include/rfl/cbor/Reader.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/cbor/Reader.hpp
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ class Reader {
         return error("Could not cast to bytestring.");
       }
       const auto vec = _var.val_->as<std::vector<uint8_t>>();
-      return rfl::Bytestring(internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(vec.data()),
-                             vec.size());
+      const auto data = internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(vec.data());
+      return rfl::Bytestring(data, data + vec.size());
     } else if constexpr (std::is_same<std::remove_cvref_t<T>, bool>()) {
       if (!_var.val_->is_bool()) {
         return error("Could not cast to boolean.");
diff --git a/include/rfl/flexbuf/Reader.hpp b/include/rfl/flexbuf/Reader.hpp
index 0cbe7b0c..b1946ca3 100644
--- a/include/rfl/flexbuf/Reader.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/flexbuf/Reader.hpp
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ struct Reader {
         return error("Could not cast to a bytestring.");
       }
       const auto blob = _var.AsBlob();
-      return rfl::Bytestring(internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(blob.data()),
-                             blob.size());
+      const auto data = internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(blob.data());
+      return rfl::Bytestring(data, data + blob.size());
     } else if constexpr (std::is_same<std::remove_cvref_t<T>, bool>()) {
       if (!_var.IsBool()) {
         return error("Could not cast to boolean.");
diff --git a/include/rfl/msgpack/Reader.hpp b/include/rfl/msgpack/Reader.hpp
index ecc6a33f..10f325b6 100644
--- a/include/rfl/msgpack/Reader.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/msgpack/Reader.hpp
@@ -70,8 +70,8 @@ struct Reader {
         return error("Could not cast to a bytestring.");
       }
       const auto bin = _var.via.bin;
-      return rfl::Bytestring(internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(bin.ptr),
-                             bin.size);
+      const auto data = internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(bin.ptr);
+      return rfl::Bytestring(data, data + bin.size);
     } else if constexpr (std::is_same<std::remove_cvref_t<T>, bool>()) {
       if (type != MSGPACK_OBJECT_BOOLEAN) {
         return error("Could not cast to boolean.");
diff --git a/include/rfl/ubjson/Reader.hpp b/include/rfl/ubjson/Reader.hpp
index e245735f..c07cbc9a 100644
--- a/include/rfl/ubjson/Reader.hpp
+++ b/include/rfl/ubjson/Reader.hpp
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ class Reader {
         return error("Could not cast to bytestring.");
       }
       const auto vec = _var.val_->as<std::vector<uint8_t>>();
-      return rfl::Bytestring(internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(vec.data()),
-                             vec.size());
+      const auto data = internal::ptr_cast<const std::byte*>(vec.data());
+      return rfl::Bytestring(data, data + vec.size());
     } else if constexpr (std::is_same<std::remove_cvref_t<T>, bool>()) {
       if (!_var.val_->is_bool()) {
         return error("Could not cast to boolean.");