diff --git a/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/capidmscolumn.pxd b/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/capidmscolumn.pxd
index 5e76d8b475c1625b1ad2c8e550d860f7dd31f111..e5eecea1181200ee2d55dd5ccef6a597fbdcd3da 100644
--- a/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/capidmscolumn.pxd
+++ b/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/capidmscolumn.pxd
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ cdef extern from "obitypes.h" nogil:
     ctypedef OBIBool obibool_t
     ctypedef int32_t obiint_t
     ctypedef double obifloat_t
-    ctypedef bytes obichar_t  
+    ctypedef char obichar_t  
     ctypedef size_t obiidx_t
 
     char* name_data_type(int data_type)
diff --git a/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/obidmscolumn_char/capidmscolumn_char.pxd b/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/obidmscolumn_char/capidmscolumn_char.pxd
index c2384bbd8c75558a632c27165cec7bdf32e3cf69..cc194a7d56ca3cee92c49b8e793b38cc0f00e76c 100644
--- a/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/obidmscolumn_char/capidmscolumn_char.pxd
+++ b/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/obidmscolumn_char/capidmscolumn_char.pxd
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@ from obitools3.obidms.obidmscolumn.capidmscolumn cimport *
 
 cdef extern from "obidmscolumn_char.h" nogil:
 
-    int obi_column_set_obichar_with_elt_name(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t line_nb, char* element_name, obichar_t* value)
-    obichar_t* obi_column_get_obichar_with_elt_name(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t line_nb, char* element_name)
+    int obi_column_set_obichar_with_elt_name(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t line_nb, char* element_name, obichar_t value)
+    obichar_t obi_column_get_obichar_with_elt_name(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t line_nb, char* element_name)
diff --git a/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/obidmscolumn_char/capidmscolumn_char.pyx b/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/obidmscolumn_char/capidmscolumn_char.pyx
index 6f6316716109c40567a05c47c1973904e4093089..ec8bbc7d84fbcd2c47142e5bc9653d37271b1732 100644
--- a/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/obidmscolumn_char/capidmscolumn_char.pyx
+++ b/python/obitools3/obidms/obidmscolumn/obidmscolumn_char/capidmscolumn_char.pyx
@@ -6,10 +6,10 @@ from .capidmscolumn_char cimport *
 cdef class OBIDMS_column_char(OBIDMS_column) :
 
     def get_item(self, line_nb, element_name):
-        value = (obi_column_get_obichar_with_elt_name(self.pointer, line_nb, element_name.encode('utf-8'))).decode(encoding='utf-8')[:1]
+        cdef char value = obi_column_get_obichar_with_elt_name(self.pointer, line_nb, element_name.encode('utf-8'))
         if obi_errno > 0 :
             raise IndexError(line_nb, element_name)
-        return value
+        return <bytes> value
 
 
 cdef class OBIDMS_column_char_read(OBIDMS_column_char) :     
@@ -17,19 +17,17 @@ cdef class OBIDMS_column_char_read(OBIDMS_column_char) :
     def set_item(self, line_nb, element_name, value):
         raise Exception('Column is read-only')
 
-    def close(self):
+    cpdef close(self):
         if obi_close_column(self.pointer) < 0 :
             raise Exception("Problem closing a column")
                         
         
 cdef class OBIDMS_column_char_writable(OBIDMS_column_char) :     
 
-    def set_item(self, line_nb, element_name, value):
-        return obi_column_set_obichar_with_elt_name(self.pointer, line_nb, element_name.encode('utf-8'), value.encode('utf-8'))
+    def set_item(self, line_nb, element_name, bytes value):
+        return obi_column_set_obichar_with_elt_name(self.pointer, line_nb, element_name.encode('utf-8'), value[0])
 
     def close(self):
         if obi_truncate_and_close_column(self.pointer) < 0 :
             raise Exception("Problem closing a column")
      
-        
-    
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/obidmscolumn_char.c b/src/obidmscolumn_char.c
index 2241e00c1a81fb2ebb64a6414d5d2f53316b5022..6071dbb929ec218d619a00732a099e6f1ba95340 100644
--- a/src/obidmscolumn_char.c
+++ b/src/obidmscolumn_char.c
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ obichar_t obi_column_get_obichar_with_elt_idx(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t lin
 		obidebug(1, "\nError trying to get a value that is beyond the current number of lines used");
 		return OBIChar_NA;
 	}
+
 	return *(((obichar_t*) (column->data)) + (line_nb * ((column->header)->nb_elements_per_line)) + element_idx);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/obidmscolumn_char.h b/src/obidmscolumn_char.h
index e973b76a2721d5585b4318c826d037bc721cb7d2..96089b8640d757fd1ceb661326b5a4b573d221c3 100644
--- a/src/obidmscolumn_char.h
+++ b/src/obidmscolumn_char.h
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ obichar_t* obi_column_get_obichar_with_elt_idx(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t li
  * @since August 2015
  * @author Celine Mercier (celine.mercier@metabarcoding.org)
  */
-int obi_column_set_obichar_with_elt_name(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t line_nb, char* element_name, obichar_t* value);
+int obi_column_set_obichar_with_elt_name(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t line_nb, char* element_name, obichar_t value);
 
 
 /**
@@ -97,5 +97,5 @@ int obi_column_set_obichar_with_elt_name(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t line_nb,
  * @since August 2015
  * @author Celine Mercier (celine.mercier@metabarcoding.org)
  */
-obichar_t* obi_column_get_obichar_with_elt_name(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t line_nb, char* element_name);
+obichar_t obi_column_get_obichar_with_elt_name(OBIDMS_column_p column, size_t line_nb, char* element_name);