diff --git a/sqlite3/lib/src/api/functions.dart b/sqlite3/lib/src/api/functions.dart
index b41bd910..60802c36 100644
--- a/sqlite3/lib/src/api/functions.dart
+++ b/sqlite3/lib/src/api/functions.dart
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import 'package:meta/meta.dart';
 /// A scalar function exposed to sql.
 ///
 /// {@template sqlite3_function_behavior}
-/// The function must either return a `bool`, `num`, `String`, `List<int>` or
+/// The function must either return a `bool`, `num`, `String`, `Uint8List`, `List<int>` or
 /// `null`.
 ///
 /// If invoking the function throws a Dart exception, the sql function will
diff --git a/sqlite3/lib/src/ffi/ffi.dart b/sqlite3/lib/src/ffi/ffi.dart
index 38328bec..9181e95e 100644
--- a/sqlite3/lib/src/ffi/ffi.dart
+++ b/sqlite3/lib/src/ffi/ffi.dart
@@ -69,6 +69,8 @@ extension ValueUtils on Pointer<sqlite3_value> {
   }
 }
 
+final utf8Encode = utf8.encoder.convert;
+
 extension ContextUtils on Pointer<sqlite3_context> {
   Pointer<Void> aggregateContext(Bindings bindings, int bytes) {
     return bindings.sqlite3_aggregate_context(this, bytes);
@@ -88,13 +90,13 @@ extension ContextUtils on Pointer<sqlite3_context> {
     } else if (result is bool) {
       bindings.sqlite3_result_int64(this, result ? 1 : 0);
     } else if (result is String) {
-      final bytes = utf8.encode(result);
+      Uint8List bytes = utf8Encode(result);
       final ptr = allocateBytes(bytes);
 
       bindings.sqlite3_result_text(
           this, ptr.cast(), bytes.length, SQLITE_TRANSIENT);
       ptr.free();
-    } else if (result is List<int>) {
+    } else if (result is Uint8List) {
       final ptr = allocateBytes(result);
 
       bindings.sqlite3_result_blob64(
@@ -104,7 +106,7 @@ extension ContextUtils on Pointer<sqlite3_context> {
   }
 
   void setError(Bindings bindings, String description) {
-    final bytes = utf8.encode(description);
+    final Uint8List bytes = utf8Encode(description);
     final ptr = allocateBytes(bytes);
 
     bindings.sqlite3_result_error(this, ptr.cast(), bytes.length);
@@ -148,7 +150,7 @@ class ValueList extends ListBase<Object?> {
     }
 
     final result = argArray[index].read(bindings);
-    if (result is String || result is List<int>) {
+    if (result is String || result is Uint8List) {
       // Cache to avoid excessive copying in case the argument is loaded
       // multiple times
       _cachedCopies[index] = result;
diff --git a/sqlite3/lib/src/ffi/memory.dart b/sqlite3/lib/src/ffi/memory.dart
index 147e8f62..97d4617e 100644
--- a/sqlite3/lib/src/ffi/memory.dart
+++ b/sqlite3/lib/src/ffi/memory.dart
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ extension FreePointerExtension on Pointer {
   void free() => allocate.free(this);
 }
 
-Pointer<Uint8> allocateBytes(List<int> bytes, {int additionalLength = 0}) {
+Pointer<Uint8> allocateBytes(Uint8List bytes, {int additionalLength = 0}) {
   final ptr = allocate.allocate<Uint8>(bytes.length + additionalLength);
 
   final data = Uint8List(bytes.length + additionalLength)..setAll(0, bytes);
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ Pointer<Uint8> allocateBytes(List<int> bytes, {int additionalLength = 0}) {
   return ptr;
 }
 
+final utf8Encode = utf8.encoder.convert;
 Pointer<char> allocateZeroTerminated(String string) {
-  return allocateBytes(utf8.encode(string), additionalLength: 1).cast();
+  return allocateBytes(utf8Encode(string), additionalLength: 1).cast();
 }
diff --git a/sqlite3/lib/src/impl/database.dart b/sqlite3/lib/src/impl/database.dart
index d8ceca75..7cf9a524 100644
--- a/sqlite3/lib/src/impl/database.dart
+++ b/sqlite3/lib/src/impl/database.dart
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ class DatabaseImpl implements Database {
     final pzTail =
         checkNoTail ? allocate<Pointer<char>>() : nullPtr<Pointer<char>>();
 
-    final bytes = utf8.encode(sql);
+    final bytes = utf8Encode(sql);
     final sqlPtr = allocateBytes(bytes);
 
     var prepFlags = 0;
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ class DatabaseImpl implements Database {
   }
 
   Pointer<Uint8> _functionName(String functionName) {
-    final functionNameBytes = utf8.encode(functionName);
+    final functionNameBytes = utf8Encode(functionName);
 
     if (functionNameBytes.length > 255) {
       throw ArgumentError.value(functionName, 'functionName',
diff --git a/sqlite3/lib/src/impl/statement.dart b/sqlite3/lib/src/impl/statement.dart
index 13182f59..1cb04081 100644
--- a/sqlite3/lib/src/impl/statement.dart
+++ b/sqlite3/lib/src/impl/statement.dart
@@ -100,7 +100,10 @@ class PreparedStatementImpl implements PreparedStatement {
 
     // variables in sqlite are 1-indexed
     for (var i = 1; i <= params.length; i++) {
-      final Object? param = params[i - 1];
+      Object? param = params[i - 1];
+      if (param is List<int>) {
+        param = Uint8List.fromList(param);
+      }
 
       if (param == null) {
         _bindings.sqlite3_bind_null(_stmt, i);
@@ -109,13 +112,13 @@ class PreparedStatementImpl implements PreparedStatement {
       } else if (param is double) {
         _bindings.sqlite3_bind_double(_stmt, i, param.toDouble());
       } else if (param is String) {
-        final bytes = utf8.encode(param);
+        final bytes = utf8Encode(param);
         final ptr = allocateBytes(bytes);
         _allocatedWhileBinding.add(ptr);
 
         _bindings.sqlite3_bind_text(
             _stmt, i, ptr.cast(), bytes.length, nullPtr());
-      } else if (param is List<int>) {
+      } else if (param is Uint8List) {
         if (param.isEmpty) {
           // malloc(0) is implementation-defined and might return a null
           // pointer, which is not what we want: Passing a null-pointer to
@@ -133,8 +136,8 @@ class PreparedStatementImpl implements PreparedStatement {
         throw ArgumentError.value(
           param,
           'params[$i]',
-          'Allowed parameters must either be null or an int, num, String or '
-              'List<int>.',
+          'Allowed parameters must either be null or an int, num, String, List<int> or '
+              'Uint8List.',
         );
       }
     }