diff --git a/com.oracle.truffle.r.runtime/src/com/oracle/truffle/r/runtime/data/RRaw.java b/com.oracle.truffle.r.runtime/src/com/oracle/truffle/r/runtime/data/RRaw.java
index a99b64ca06dbd4cb3b43f157e1f05e52a580af79..78808abfca7c4d1c410787da6ae0c80777d1c473 100644
--- a/com.oracle.truffle.r.runtime/src/com/oracle/truffle/r/runtime/data/RRaw.java
+++ b/com.oracle.truffle.r.runtime/src/com/oracle/truffle/r/runtime/data/RRaw.java
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public final class RRaw extends RScalarVector implements RAbstractRawVector {
             case Complex:
                 return RComplex.valueOf(value, 0.0);
             case Character:
-                return RString.valueOf(RRuntime.rawToString(value));
+                return RString.valueOf(RRuntime.rawToHexString(value));
             default:
                 return null;
         }