From 82999e2b4ccc675718104419637454998f1d02d7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Roland Walker <walker@pobox.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2026 14:05:39 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] don't attempt to UTF-8-decode binary values

Treat all binary values the same: render them as hex literals.  The
existing logic allows some binary values to be treated differently
than others.
---
 CHANGELOG                                  |  6 ++++++
 cli_helpers/utils.py                       | 11 +----------
 tests/tabular_output/test_preprocessors.py |  2 +-
 tests/test_utils.py                        |  4 ++--
 4 files changed, 10 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-)

diff --git a/CHANGELOG b/CHANGELOG
index 07f43fc..f31ee22 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG
+++ b/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## Version 2.8.1
+
+(released on 2026-01-24)
+
+- Don't attempt to UTF-8-decode binary values.
+
 ## Version 2.8.0
 
 (released on 2026-01-24)
diff --git a/cli_helpers/utils.py b/cli_helpers/utils.py
index 053bdea..12fca1d 100644
--- a/cli_helpers/utils.py
+++ b/cli_helpers/utils.py
@@ -21,16 +21,7 @@ def bytes_to_string(b):
 
     """
     if isinstance(b, binary_type):
-        needs_hex = False
-        try:
-            result = b.decode("utf8")
-            needs_hex = not result.isprintable()
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            needs_hex = True
-        if needs_hex:
-            return "0x" + binascii.hexlify(b).decode("ascii")
-        else:
-            return result
+        return "0x" + binascii.hexlify(b).decode("ascii")
     return b
 
 
diff --git a/tests/tabular_output/test_preprocessors.py b/tests/tabular_output/test_preprocessors.py
index 5ebd06d..3545d9a 100644
--- a/tests/tabular_output/test_preprocessors.py
+++ b/tests/tabular_output/test_preprocessors.py
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ def test_bytes_to_string():
     """Test the bytes_to_string() function."""
     data = [[1, "John"], [2, b"Jill"]]
     headers = [0, "name"]
-    expected = ([[1, "John"], [2, "Jill"]], [0, "name"])
+    expected = ([[1, "John"], [2, "0x4a696c6c"]], [0, "name"])
     results = bytes_to_string(data, headers)
 
     assert expected == (list(results[0]), results[1])
diff --git a/tests/test_utils.py b/tests/test_utils.py
index ba43937..b10d6f7 100644
--- a/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ def test_bytes_to_string_hexlify():
 
 def test_bytes_to_string_decode_bytes():
     """Test that bytes_to_string() decodes bytes."""
-    assert utils.bytes_to_string(b"foobar") == "foobar"
+    assert utils.bytes_to_string(b"foobar") == "0x666f6f626172"
 
 
 def test_bytes_to_string_unprintable():
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ def test_bytes_to_string_non_bytes():
 
 def test_to_string_bytes():
     """Test that to_string() converts bytes to a string."""
-    assert utils.to_string(b"foo") == "foo"
+    assert utils.to_string(b"foo") == "0x666f6f"
 
 
 def test_to_string_non_bytes():