diff --git a/encoding/protobuf/jsonpb/decoder.go b/encoding/protobuf/jsonpb/decoder.go
index 2ecba4954..af6e25bf4 100644
--- a/encoding/protobuf/jsonpb/decoder.go
+++ b/encoding/protobuf/jsonpb/decoder.go
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ func (r *rewriter) rewrite(schema cue.Value, expr ast.Expr) (x ast.Expr) {
 
 	case cue.BytesKind:
 		x, q, str := stringValue(expr)
-		if x == nil && q.IsDouble() {
+		if x == nil {
 			break
 		}
 
diff --git a/encoding/protobuf/jsonpb/testdata/decoder/bytes_nonstring.txtar b/encoding/protobuf/jsonpb/testdata/decoder/bytes_nonstring.txtar
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c8660422
--- /dev/null
+++ b/encoding/protobuf/jsonpb/testdata/decoder/bytes_nonstring.txtar
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+-- schema.cue --
+b: [string]: bytes
+-- int.cue --
+b: field: 42
+-- out/jsonpb/int.cue --
+b: field: 42