diff --git a/src/PostgREST/QueryBuilder.hs b/src/PostgREST/QueryBuilder.hs
index 87487ba32..75754cd6b 100644
--- a/src/PostgREST/QueryBuilder.hs
+++ b/src/PostgREST/QueryBuilder.hs
@@ -93,11 +93,11 @@ encodeUniformObjs =
 createReadStatement :: SqlQuery -> SqlQuery -> NonnegRange -> Bool -> Bool -> Bool ->
                        H.Query () ResultsWithCount
 createReadStatement selectQuery countQuery range isSingle countTotal asCsv =
-  H.statement sql HE.unit decodeStandard True
+  H.statement (cs sql) HE.unit decodeStandard True
  where
   sql = [qc|
       WITH {sourceCTEName} AS ({selectQuery}) SELECT {cols}
-      FROM ( SELECT * FROM {sourceCTEName} {limitF range}) t |]
+      FROM ( SELECT * FROM {sourceCTEName} {limitF range}) t |] :: Text
   countResultF = if countTotal then "("<>countQuery<>")" else "null"
   cols = intercalate ", " [
       countResultF <> " AS total_result_set",
@@ -116,20 +116,20 @@ createWriteStatement :: QualifiedIdentifier -> SqlQuery -> SqlQuery -> Bool ->
 createWriteStatement _ _ _ _ _ _ _ (PayloadParseError _) = undefined
 createWriteStatement _ _ mutateQuery _ None
                      _ _ (PayloadJSON (UniformObjects _)) =
-  H.statement sql encodeUniformObjs decodeStandardMay True
+  H.statement (cs sql) encodeUniformObjs decodeStandardMay True
  where
   sql = [qc|
       WITH {sourceCTEName} AS ({mutateQuery})
-      SELECT '', 0, '', '' |]
+      SELECT '', 0, '', '' |] :: Text
 
 createWriteStatement qi _ mutateQuery isSingle HeadersOnly
                      pKeys _ (PayloadJSON (UniformObjects _)) =
-  H.statement sql encodeUniformObjs decodeStandardMay True
+  H.statement (cs sql) encodeUniformObjs decodeStandardMay True
  where
   sql = [qc|
       WITH {sourceCTEName} AS ({mutateQuery} RETURNING {fromQi qi}.*)
       SELECT {cols}
-      FROM (SELECT 1 FROM {sourceCTEName}) t |]
+      FROM (SELECT 1 FROM {sourceCTEName}) t |] :: Text
   cols = intercalate ", " [
       "'' AS total_result_set",
       "pg_catalog.count(t) AS page_total",
@@ -139,12 +139,12 @@ createWriteStatement qi _ mutateQuery isSingle HeadersOnly
 
 createWriteStatement qi selectQuery mutateQuery isSingle Full
                      pKeys asCsv (PayloadJSON (UniformObjects _)) =
-  H.statement sql encodeUniformObjs decodeStandardMay True
+  H.statement (cs sql) encodeUniformObjs decodeStandardMay True
  where
   sql = [qc|
       WITH {sourceCTEName} AS ({mutateQuery} RETURNING {fromQi qi}.*)
       SELECT {cols}
-      FROM ({selectQuery}) t |]
+      FROM ({selectQuery}) t |] :: Text
   cols = intercalate ", " [
       "'' AS total_result_set", -- when updateing it does not make sense
       "pg_catalog.count(t) AS page_total",
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ addJoinConditions schema (Node (query, (n, r)) forest) =
 type ProcResults = (Maybe Int64, Int64, JSON.Value)
 callProc :: QualifiedIdentifier -> JSON.Object -> NonnegRange -> Bool -> H.Query () (Maybe ProcResults)
 callProc qi params range countTotal =
-  H.statement sql HE.unit decodeProc True
+  H.statement (cs sql) HE.unit decodeProc True
   where
     sql = [qc|
             WITH t AS (select * {_callSql})
@@ -217,13 +217,13 @@ callProc qi params range countTotal =
                 coalesce(array_agg(row_to_json(r)), '\{}')
               )::character varying
             FROM (select * from t {limitF range}) r;
-          |]
+          |] :: Text
     _args = intercalate "," $ map _assignment (HM.toList params)
     _assignment (n,v) = pgFmtIdent n <> ":=" <> insertableValue v
-    _callSql = [qc| from {fromQi qi}({_args}) |] :: BS.ByteString
+    _callSql = [qc| from {fromQi qi}({_args}) |] :: Text
     _countExpr = if countTotal
                    then "(select pg_catalog.count(1) from t)"
-                   else "null::bigint" :: BS.ByteString
+                   else "null::bigint" :: Text
     decodeProc = HD.maybeRow procRow
     procRow = (,,) <$> HD.nullableValue HD.int8 <*> HD.value HD.int8
                    <*> HD.value HD.json
diff --git a/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs b/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs
index 7b3d41bde..c157b84f6 100644
--- a/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs
+++ b/test/Feature/InsertSpec.hs
@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@ import SpecHelper
 
 import qualified Data.Aeson as JSON
 import Data.Maybe (fromJust)
+import Data.Monoid ((<>))
 import Text.Heredoc
 import Network.HTTP.Types.Header
 import Network.HTTP.Types
-import Control.Monad (replicateM_)
+import Control.Monad (replicateM_, void)
 
 import TestTypes(IncPK(..), CompoundPK(..))
 import Network.Wai (Application)
@@ -233,10 +234,21 @@ spec = do
       it "fails for too few" $ do
         p <- request methodPost "/no_pk" [("Content-Type", "text/csv")] "a,b\nfoo,bar\nbaz"
         liftIO $ simpleStatus p `shouldBe` badRequest400
-      -- it does not fail because the extra columns are ignored
-      -- it "fails for too many" $ do
-      --   p <- request methodPost "/no_pk" [("Content-Type", "text/csv")] "a,b\nfoo,bar\nbaz,bat,bad"
-      --   liftIO $ simpleStatus p `shouldBe` badRequest400
+
+    context "with unicode values" $
+      it "succeeds and returns usable location header" $ do
+        let payload = [json| { "a":"圍棋", "b":"￥" } |]
+        p <- request methodPost "/no_pk"
+                     [("Prefer", "return=representation")]
+                     payload
+        liftIO $ do
+          simpleBody p `shouldBe` payload
+          simpleStatus p `shouldBe` created201
+
+        let Just location = lookup hLocation $ simpleHeaders p
+        r <- get location
+        liftIO $ simpleBody r `shouldBe` "["<>payload<>"]"
+
 
   describe "Putting record" $ do
 
@@ -387,6 +399,17 @@ spec = do
           , matchHeaders = []
           }
 
+    context "with unicode values" $
+      it "succeeds and returns values intact" $ do
+        void $ request methodPost "/no_pk" []
+          [json| { "a":"patchme", "b":"patchme" } |]
+        let payload = [json| { "a":"圍棋", "b":"￥" } |]
+        p <- request methodPatch "/no_pk?a=eq.patchme&b=eq.patchme"
+          [("Prefer", "return=representation")] payload
+        liftIO $ do
+          simpleBody p `shouldBe` "["<>payload<>"]"
+          simpleStatus p `shouldBe` ok200
+
   describe "Row level permission" $
     it "set user_id when inserting rows" $ do
       let auth = authHeaderJWT "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJyb2xlIjoicG9zdGdyZXN0X3Rlc3RfYXV0aG9yIiwiaWQiOiJqZG9lIn0.y4vZuu1dDdwAl0-S00MCRWRYMlJ5YAMSir6Es6WtWx0"
diff --git a/test/Feature/QuerySpec.hs b/test/Feature/QuerySpec.hs
index 7e43f465d..0d0f71a1d 100644
--- a/test/Feature/QuerySpec.hs
+++ b/test/Feature/QuerySpec.hs
@@ -390,11 +390,15 @@ spec = do
         post "/rpc/test_empty_rowset" [json| {} |] `shouldRespondWith`
           [json| [] |]
 
-    context "a proc that returns plain text" $
+    context "a proc that returns plain text" $ do
       it "returns proper json" $
         post "/rpc/sayhello" [json| { "name": "world" } |] `shouldRespondWith`
           [json| [{"sayhello":"Hello, world"}] |]
 
+      it "can handle unicode" $
+        post "/rpc/sayhello" [json| { "name": "￥" } |] `shouldRespondWith`
+          [json| [{"sayhello":"Hello, ￥"}] |]
+
     context "improper input" $ do
       it "rejects unknown content type even if payload is good" $
         request methodPost "/rpc/sayhello"