diff --git a/vhdlpp/expression_emit.cc b/vhdlpp/expression_emit.cc
index 09ac0654d..8874da8e6 100644
--- a/vhdlpp/expression_emit.cc
+++ b/vhdlpp/expression_emit.cc
@@ -931,7 +931,7 @@ int ExpString::emit_as_array_(ostream& out, Entity*, ScopeBase*, const VTypeArra
 
 	// Detect the special case that this is an array of
 	// CHARACTER. In this case, emit at a Verilog string.
-      if (etype->type()==VTypePrimitive::CHARACTER) {
+      if (arr->element_type() == &primitive_CHARACTER) {
 	    vector<char> tmp (value_.size() + 3);
 	    tmp[0] = '"';
 	    memcpy(&tmp[1], &value_[0], value_.size());
diff --git a/vhdlpp/std_types.cc b/vhdlpp/std_types.cc
index 20acb42a6..311c74f1e 100644
--- a/vhdlpp/std_types.cc
+++ b/vhdlpp/std_types.cc
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@ const VTypePrimitive primitive_INTEGER(VTypePrimitive::INTEGER);
 const VTypePrimitive primitive_NATURAL(VTypePrimitive::NATURAL);
 const VTypePrimitive primitive_REAL(VTypePrimitive::REAL);
 const VTypePrimitive primitive_STDLOGIC(VTypePrimitive::STDLOGIC, true);
-const VTypePrimitive primitive_CHARACTER(VTypePrimitive::CHARACTER);
 const VTypePrimitive primitive_TIME(VTypePrimitive::TIME);
 
 VTypeDef type_BOOLEAN(perm_string::literal("boolean"));
 
+const VTypeArray primitive_CHARACTER(&primitive_BIT,            7, 0);
 const VTypeArray primitive_BIT_VECTOR(&primitive_BIT,           vector<VTypeArray::range_t> (1));
 const VTypeArray primitive_BOOL_VECTOR(&type_BOOLEAN,           vector<VTypeArray::range_t> (1));
 const VTypeArray primitive_STDLOGIC_VECTOR(&primitive_STDLOGIC, vector<VTypeArray::range_t> (1));
diff --git a/vhdlpp/std_types.h b/vhdlpp/std_types.h
index b38003cf4..72bfa2075 100644
--- a/vhdlpp/std_types.h
+++ b/vhdlpp/std_types.h
@@ -35,11 +35,11 @@ extern const VTypePrimitive primitive_INTEGER;
 extern const VTypePrimitive primitive_NATURAL;
 extern const VTypePrimitive primitive_REAL;
 extern const VTypePrimitive primitive_STDLOGIC;
-extern const VTypePrimitive primitive_CHARACTER;
 extern const VTypePrimitive primitive_TIME;
 
 extern VTypeDef type_BOOLEAN;
 
+extern const VTypeArray primitive_CHARACTER;
 extern const VTypeArray primitive_BIT_VECTOR;
 extern const VTypeArray primitive_BOOL_VECTOR;
 extern const VTypeArray primitive_STDLOGIC_VECTOR;
diff --git a/vhdlpp/vtype.cc b/vhdlpp/vtype.cc
index 0e6c1b47d..730eb00a9 100644
--- a/vhdlpp/vtype.cc
+++ b/vhdlpp/vtype.cc
@@ -58,9 +58,6 @@ void VTypePrimitive::show(ostream&out) const
 	  case BIT:
 	    out << "BIT";
 	    break;
-	  case CHARACTER:
-	    out << "CHARACTER";
-	    break;
 	  case INTEGER:
 	    out << "INTEGER";
 	    break;
@@ -90,9 +87,6 @@ int VTypePrimitive::get_width(ScopeBase*) const
         case NATURAL:
             return 32;
 
-        case CHARACTER:
-            return 8;
-
         default:
             std::cerr << "sorry: primitive type " << type_ <<
                 " has no get_width() implementation." << std::endl;
diff --git a/vhdlpp/vtype.h b/vhdlpp/vtype.h
index f9ffc2186..bf4968b14 100644
--- a/vhdlpp/vtype.h
+++ b/vhdlpp/vtype.h
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ class VTypeERROR : public VType {
 class VTypePrimitive : public VType {
 
     public:
-      enum type_t { BIT, INTEGER, NATURAL, REAL, STDLOGIC, CHARACTER, TIME };
+      enum type_t { BIT, INTEGER, NATURAL, REAL, STDLOGIC, TIME };
 
     public:
       VTypePrimitive(type_t tt, bool packed = false);
diff --git a/vhdlpp/vtype_emit.cc b/vhdlpp/vtype_emit.cc
index 35d3ef2e6..9287a46c0 100644
--- a/vhdlpp/vtype_emit.cc
+++ b/vhdlpp/vtype_emit.cc
@@ -163,9 +163,6 @@ int VTypePrimitive::emit_primitive_type(ostream&out) const
 	  case REAL:
 	    out << "real";
 	    break;
-	  case CHARACTER:
-	    out << "byte";
-	    break;
 	  case TIME:
 	    out << "time";
 	    break;
diff --git a/vhdlpp/vtype_stream.cc b/vhdlpp/vtype_stream.cc
index 1394ccd06..0b4a12f1e 100644
--- a/vhdlpp/vtype_stream.cc
+++ b/vhdlpp/vtype_stream.cc
@@ -161,9 +161,6 @@ void VTypePrimitive::write_to_stream(ostream&fd) const
 	  case STDLOGIC:
 	    fd << "std_logic";
 	    break;
-	  case CHARACTER:
-	    fd << "character";
-	    break;
 	  case TIME:
 	    fd << "time";
 	    break;