diff --git a/coolamqp/messages.py b/coolamqp/messages.py
index c30db8abd4f414b6459bfc524906e2a586fd616f..324a497dec8698ff05f61c1537c15e734e971a60 100644
--- a/coolamqp/messages.py
+++ b/coolamqp/messages.py
@@ -13,9 +13,7 @@ class Message(object):
         :type body: str (py2) or bytes (py3)
         :param properties: AMQP properties to be sent along
         """
-        if not isinstance(body, six.binary_type):
-            raise TypeError('Message body must be binary!')
-        self.body = body
+        self.body = six.binary_type(body)
         self.properties = {} if properties is None else properties
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_basics.py b/tests/test_basics.py
index cb702a5128efd9503e8efb1689d54209dde173c3..7535e516b8ec8250b53e81075d55c6b317fcd8a8 100644
--- a/tests/test_basics.py
+++ b/tests/test_basics.py
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ class TestBasics(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_send_bullshit(self):
         self.assertRaises(TypeError, lambda: Message(u'what the fuck'))
 
+    def test_send_nonobvious_bullshit(self):
+        self.assertEquals(Message(bytearray(b'what the fuck')).body, b'what the fuck')
+
     def test_nacknowledge(self):
         myq = Queue('myqueue', exclusive=True)