diff --git a/vraptor-core/src/main/java/br/com/caelum/vraptor/converter/PrimitiveByteArrayConverter.java b/vraptor-core/src/main/java/br/com/caelum/vraptor/converter/PrimitiveByteArrayConverter.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..16537e2ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vraptor-core/src/main/java/br/com/caelum/vraptor/converter/PrimitiveByteArrayConverter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/***
+ * Copyright (c) 2009 Caelum - www.caelum.com.br/opensource
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * 	http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package br.com.caelum.vraptor.converter;
+
+import static com.google.common.base.Strings.isNullOrEmpty;
+
+import java.nio.charset.Charset;
+
+import javax.annotation.Priority;
+import javax.enterprise.context.ApplicationScoped;
+import javax.enterprise.inject.Alternative;
+import javax.inject.Inject;
+import javax.interceptor.Interceptor;
+
+import br.com.caelum.vraptor.Convert;
+import br.com.caelum.vraptor.http.EncodingHandler;
+
+/**
+ * A Byte array converter. Null or empty values are returned as an empty byte array.
+ *
+ * @author Otávio Scherer Garcia
+ * @since 4.2.0
+ */
+@Convert(byte[].class)
+@ApplicationScoped
+@Alternative
+@Priority(Interceptor.Priority.LIBRARY_BEFORE)
+public class PrimitiveByteArrayConverter implements Converter<byte[]> {
+
+	public static final String INVALID_MESSAGE_KEY = "is_not_a_valid_number";
+
+	private final EncodingHandler encodingHandler;
+
+	public PrimitiveByteArrayConverter() {
+		this(null);
+	}
+
+	/** 
+	 * @deprecated CDI eyes only
+	 */
+	@Inject
+	public PrimitiveByteArrayConverter(EncodingHandler encodingHandler) {
+		this.encodingHandler = encodingHandler;
+	}
+
+	@Override
+	public byte[] convert(String value, Class<? extends byte[]> type) {
+		if (isNullOrEmpty(value)) {
+			return new byte[0];
+		}
+
+		return value.getBytes(getCurrentCharset());
+	}
+
+	protected Charset getCurrentCharset() {
+		return Charset.forName(encodingHandler.getEncoding());
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/vraptor-core/src/test/java/br/com/caelum/vraptor/converter/PrimitiveByteArrayConverterTest.java b/vraptor-core/src/test/java/br/com/caelum/vraptor/converter/PrimitiveByteArrayConverterTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..76e44ba31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vraptor-core/src/test/java/br/com/caelum/vraptor/converter/PrimitiveByteArrayConverterTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/***
+ * Copyright (c) 2009 Caelum - www.caelum.com.br/opensource
+ * All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * 	http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package br.com.caelum.vraptor.converter;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.when;
+
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
+
+import br.com.caelum.vraptor.http.EncodingHandler;
+
+public class PrimitiveByteArrayConverterTest {
+
+	@Rule
+	public ExpectedException exception = ExpectedException.none();
+
+	private PrimitiveByteArrayConverter converter;
+
+
+	@Before
+	public void setup() {
+		final EncodingHandler encodingHandler = mock(EncodingHandler.class);
+		when(encodingHandler.getEncoding()).thenReturn(StandardCharsets.UTF_8.toString());
+
+		this.converter = new PrimitiveByteArrayConverter(encodingHandler);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void shouldReturnEmptyByteArrayWhenNull() {
+		assertThat(converter.convert(null, byte[].class), is(equalTo(new byte[0])));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void shouldBeAbleToConvertUsingByteArray() {
+		String input = "abc";
+		byte[] expected = { (byte) 0x61, (byte) 0x62, (byte) 0x63 };
+		assertThat(converter.convert(input, byte[].class), is(equalTo(expected)));
+	}
+}
\ No newline at end of file