diff --git a/FU.xs b/FU.xs
index e54795a..13cdca2 100644
--- a/FU.xs
+++ b/FU.xs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include "c/jsonfmt.c"
 #include "c/jsonparse.c"
 #include "c/libpq.h"
+#include "c/pgtypes.c"
 #include "c/pgconn.c"
 
 
@@ -139,6 +140,11 @@ void q(fupg_txn c, SV *sv, ...)
 
 MODULE = FU   PACKAGE = FU::PG::st
 
+void text_results(fupg_st *st, ...)
+  CODE:
+    st->text_results = items == 1 || SvTRUE(ST(1));
+    XSRETURN(1);
+
 void params(fupg_st *st)
   CODE:
     FUPG_ST_COOKIE;
diff --git a/c/pgconn.c b/c/pgconn.c
index c43a87f..cb725ed 100644
--- a/c/pgconn.c
+++ b/c/pgconn.c
@@ -149,13 +149,6 @@ invalid:
     fu_confess("invalid transaction object");
 }
 
-/* Read a Perl value from a PGresult.
- * Currently assumes text format and just creates a PV. */
-static SV *fupg_val(pTHX_ const PGresult *r, int row, int col) {
-    if (PQgetisnull(r, row, col)) return newSV(0);
-    return newSVpvn_utf8(PQgetvalue(r, row, col), PQgetlength(r, row, col), 1);
-}
-
 typedef struct {
     /* Set in $conn->q() */
     SV *self;
@@ -163,14 +156,19 @@ typedef struct {
     UV cookie;
     char *query;
     SV **bind;
-    int bindn;
+    int nbind;
+    bool text_params;
+    bool text_results;
     /* Set during prepare */
     int prepared;
     char name[32];
     PGresult *describe;
     /* Set during execute */
-    int paramn;
+    int nparam;
+    int nfields;
     char **param;
+    const fupg_type **recv;
+    void **recvctx;
     PGresult *result;
 } fupg_st;
 
@@ -178,6 +176,7 @@ static SV *fupg_q(pTHX_ fupg_conn *c, const char *query, I32 ax, I32 argc) {
     fupg_st *st = safecalloc(1, sizeof(fupg_st));
     st->conn = c;
     st->cookie = c->cookie;
+    st->text_params = st->text_results = true; /* TODO: default to false */
     SvREFCNT_inc(c->self);
 
     st->query = savepv(query);
@@ -185,9 +184,9 @@ static SV *fupg_q(pTHX_ fupg_conn *c, const char *query, I32 ax, I32 argc) {
         st->bind = safemalloc((argc-2) * sizeof(SV *));
         I32 i;
         for (i=2; i < argc; i++) {
-            st->bind[st->bindn] = newSV(0);
-            sv_setsv(st->bind[st->bindn], ST(i));
-            st->bindn++;
+            st->bind[st->nbind] = newSV(0);
+            sv_setsv(st->bind[st->nbind], ST(i));
+            st->nbind++;
         }
     }
 
@@ -267,12 +266,13 @@ static void fupg_st_execute(pTHX_ fupg_st *st) {
     if (st->result) fu_confess("Invalid attempt to execute statement multiple times");
 
     /* TODO: prepare can be skipped when prepared statement caching is disabled and (text-format queries or no bind params) */
+    /* TODO: support binary format params */
     fupg_st_prepare(aTHX_ st);
-    st->param = safemalloc(st->bindn * sizeof(char *));
+    st->param = safemalloc(st->nbind * sizeof(char *));
     int i;
-    for (i=0; i<st->bindn; i++) {
+    for (i=0; i<st->nbind; i++) {
         st->param[i] = SvPVutf8_nolen(st->bind[i]);
-        st->paramn++;
+        st->nparam++;
     }
 
     /* I'm not super fond of this approach. Storing the full query results in a
@@ -285,7 +285,9 @@ static void fupg_st_execute(pTHX_ fupg_st *st) {
      * gather that just saves a bit of memory in exchange for more and smaller
      * malloc()/free()'s. Performance-wise, it probably won't be much of an
      * improvement */
-    PGresult *r = PQexecPrepared(st->conn->conn, st->name, st->paramn, (const char * const*)st->param, NULL, NULL, 0);
+    PGresult *r = PQexecPrepared(st->conn->conn,
+            st->name, st->nparam, (const char * const*)st->param,
+            NULL, NULL, st->text_results ? 0 : 1);
     if (!r) fupg_conn_croak(st->conn , "exec");
     switch (PQresultStatus(r)) {
         case PGRES_COMMAND_OK:
@@ -293,6 +295,24 @@ static void fupg_st_execute(pTHX_ fupg_st *st) {
         default: fupg_result_croak(r, "exec", st->query);
     }
     st->result = r;
+
+    st->nfields = PQnfields(r);
+    st->recv = safecalloc(st->nfields, sizeof(*st->recv));
+    st->recvctx = safecalloc(st->nfields, sizeof(*st->recvctx));
+    for (i=0; i<st->nfields; i++) {
+        st->recv[i] = fupg_type_lookup(st->text_results ? 0 : PQftype(r, i));
+        if (!st->recv[i])
+            fu_confess("Unable to receive query results of type %u", PQftype(r, i));
+    }
+}
+
+static SV *fupg_st_getval(pTHX_ fupg_st *st, int row, int col) {
+    PGresult *r = st->result;
+    if (PQgetisnull(r, row, col)) return newSV(0);
+    int len = PQgetlength(st->result, row, col);
+    const fupg_type *t = st->recv[col];
+    if (t->len && len != t->len) fu_confess("invalid length for type %s: %d\n", t->name, len);
+    return t->recv(aTHX_ PQgetvalue(r, row, col), len, st->recvctx[col]);
 }
 
 static SV *fupg_st_exec(pTHX_ fupg_st *st) {
@@ -306,7 +326,7 @@ static SV *fupg_st_val(pTHX_ fupg_st *st) {
     if (PQnfields(st->describe) == 0) fu_confess("Invalid use of $st->val() on query returning no data");
     fupg_st_execute(aTHX_ st);
     if (PQntuples(st->result) > 1) fu_confess("Invalid use of $st->val() on query returning more than one row");
-    SV *sv = PQntuples(st->result) == 0 ? newSV(0) : fupg_val(aTHX_ st->result, 0, 0);
+    SV *sv = PQntuples(st->result) == 0 ? newSV(0) : fupg_st_getval(aTHX_ st, 0, 0);
     return sv_2mortal(sv);
 }
 
@@ -316,24 +336,24 @@ static I32 fupg_st_rowl(pTHX_ fupg_st *st, I32 ax) {
     if (PQntuples(st->result) == 0) fu_confess("Invalid use of $st->rowl() on query returning zero rows");
     if (PQntuples(st->result) > 1) fu_confess("Invalid use of $st->rowl() on query returning more than one row");
     if (GIMME_V != G_LIST) {
-        ST(0) = sv_2mortal(newSViv(PQnfields(st->result)));
+        ST(0) = sv_2mortal(newSViv(st->nfields));
         return 1;
     }
-    int i, nfields = PQnfields(st->result);
     (void)POPs;
-    EXTEND(SP, nfields);
-    for (i=0; i<nfields; i++) mPUSHs(fupg_val(aTHX_ st->result, 0, i));
-    return nfields;
+    EXTEND(SP, st->nfields);
+    int i;
+    for (i=0; i<st->nfields; i++) mPUSHs(fupg_st_getval(aTHX_ st, 0, i));
+    return st->nfields;
 }
 
 static SV *fupg_st_rowa(pTHX_ fupg_st *st) {
     fupg_st_execute(aTHX_ st);
     if (PQntuples(st->result) == 0) fu_confess("Invalid use of $st->rowl() on query returning zero rows");
     if (PQntuples(st->result) > 1) fu_confess("Invalid use of $st->rowl() on query returning more than one row");
-    int i, nfields = PQnfields(st->result);
-    AV *av = newAV_alloc_x(nfields);
+    AV *av = newAV_alloc_x(st->nfields);
     SV *sv = sv_2mortal(newRV_noinc((SV *)av));
-    for (i=0; i<nfields; i++) av_push_simple(av, fupg_val(aTHX_ st->result, 0, i));
+    int i;
+    for (i=0; i<st->nfields; i++) av_push_simple(av, fupg_st_getval(aTHX_ st, 0, i));
     return sv;
 }
 
@@ -343,12 +363,12 @@ static SV *fupg_st_rowh(pTHX_ fupg_st *st) {
     fupg_st_execute(aTHX_ st);
     if (PQntuples(st->result) == 0) fu_confess("Invalid use of $st->rowh() on query returning zero rows");
     if (PQntuples(st->result) > 1) fu_confess("Invalid use of $st->rowh() on query returning more than one row");
-    int i, nfields = PQnfields(st->result);
     HV *hv = newHV();
     SV *sv = sv_2mortal(newRV_noinc((SV *)hv));
-    for (i=0; i<nfields; i++) {
+    int i;
+    for (i=0; i<st->nfields; i++) {
         const char *key = PQfname(st->result, i);
-        hv_store(hv, key, -strlen(key), fupg_val(aTHX_ st->result, 0, i), 0);
+        hv_store(hv, key, -strlen(key), fupg_st_getval(aTHX_ st, 0, i), 0);
     }
     return sv;
 }
@@ -358,11 +378,14 @@ static void fupg_st_destroy(fupg_st *st) {
     /* Ignore failure, this is just a best-effort attempt to free up resources on the backend */
     if (st->prepared) PQclear(PQclosePrepared(st->conn->conn, st->name));
 
-    if (st->query) safefree(st->query);
-    for (i=0; i < st->bindn; i++) SvREFCNT_dec(st->bind[i]);
-    if (st->bind) safefree(st->bind);
-    /* XXX: These point into bind SVs (for now): for (i=0; i < st->paramn; i++) safefree(st->param[i]); */
-    if (st->param) safefree(st->param);
+    safefree(st->query);
+    for (i=0; i < st->nbind; i++) SvREFCNT_dec(st->bind[i]);
+    safefree(st->bind);
+    /* XXX: These point into bind SVs (for now):
+     * for (i=0; i < st->nparam; i++) safefree(st->param[i]); */
+    safefree(st->param);
+    safefree(st->recv);
+    safefree(st->recvctx); /* XXX: Needs type-specific free() for the individual pointers */
     PQclear(st->describe);
     PQclear(st->result);
     SvREFCNT_dec(st->conn->self);
@@ -372,4 +395,5 @@ static void fupg_st_destroy(fupg_st *st) {
 
 /* TODO: $st->alla, allh, flat, kvv, kva, kvh */
 /* TODO: Prepared statement caching */
-/* TODO: Binary format fetching & type handling */
+/* TODO: Binary format bind parameters */
+/* TODO: Custom type handling */
diff --git a/c/pgtypes.c b/c/pgtypes.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..35eaf52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/c/pgtypes.c
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/* Send function, takes a Perl value and should write the binary encoded
+ * format into the given fustr. */
+typedef void (*fupg_send_fn)(pTHX_ SV *, fustr *, void *);
+
+/* Receive function, takes a binary string and should return a Perl value.
+ * libpq guarantees that the given buffer is aligned to MAXIMUM_ALIGNOF. */
+typedef SV *(*fupg_recv_fn)(pTHX_ const char *, int, void *);
+
+typedef struct {
+    Oid oid;
+    int len;
+    const char *name;
+    fupg_send_fn send;
+    fupg_recv_fn recv;
+} fupg_type;
+
+
+
+#define RECVFN(name) static SV *fupg_recv_##name(pTHX_ const char *buf, int buflen __attribute__((unused)), void *data __attribute__((unused)))
+
+RECVFN(textfmt) {
+    return newSVpvn_utf8(buf, buflen, 1);
+}
+
+RECVFN(bool) {
+    return *buf ? &PL_sv_yes : &PL_sv_no;
+}
+
+RECVFN(int2) {
+    return newSViv((I16)__builtin_bswap16(*((U16 *)buf)));
+}
+
+RECVFN(int4) {
+    return newSViv((I32)__builtin_bswap32(*((U32 *)buf)));
+}
+
+RECVFN(int8) {
+    return newSViv((I64)__builtin_bswap64(*((U64 *)buf)));
+}
+
+#undef RECVFN
+
+
+
+#define R(name) fupg_recv_##name
+
+/* Sorted by oid to support binary search.
+ * (XXX: hash lookup might be faster, but requires codegen) */
+static const fupg_type fupg_types[] = {
+    {  0, 0, NULL,   NULL, R(textfmt) }, /* Invalid Oid, abused for text format */
+    { 16, 1, "bool", NULL, R(bool)    },
+    { 20, 8, "int8", NULL, R(int8)    },
+    { 21, 2, "int2", NULL, R(int2)    },
+    { 23, 4, "int4", NULL, R(int4)    },
+};
+/* TODO: A LOT MORE TYPES */
+
+#undef R
+
+#define FUPG_TYPES (sizeof(fupg_types) / sizeof(fupg_type))
+
+
+static const fupg_type *fupg_type_lookup(Oid oid) {
+    int i, b = 0, e = FUPG_TYPES-1;
+    while (b <= e) {
+        i = b + (e - b)/2;
+        if (fupg_types[i].oid == oid) return fupg_types+i;
+        if (fupg_types[i].oid < oid) b = i+1;
+        else e = i-1;
+    }
+    return NULL;
+}
diff --git a/t/pgtypes.t b/t/pgtypes.t
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a8a183
--- /dev/null
+++ b/t/pgtypes.t
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+use v5.36;
+use Test::More;
+no warnings 'experimental::builtin';
+use builtin qw/true false is_bool created_as_number/;
+
+plan skip_all => $@ if !eval { require FU::PG; } && $@ =~ /Unable to load libpq/;
+die $@ if $@;
+plan skip_all => 'Please set FU_TEST_DB to a PostgreSQL connection string to run these tests' if !$ENV{FU_TEST_DB};
+
+my $conn = FU::PG->connect($ENV{FU_TEST_DB});
+$conn->_debug_trace(0);
+
+sub v($type, $v, $sql=$v) {
+    $sql = "($sql)::$type";
+    my $res = $conn->q("SELECT $sql")->text_results(0)->val;
+    ok is_bool($res), "recv bool $sql" if $type eq 'bool';
+    ok created_as_number($res), "recv number $sql" if $type =~ /^int/;
+    is $res, $v, "recv value $sql";
+}
+
+v bool => true, 'true';
+v bool => false, 'false';
+
+v int2 => $_ for (1, -1, -32768, 32767, 12345, -12345);
+v int4 => $_ for (1, -1, -2147483648, 2147483647, 1234567890, -1234567890);
+v int8 => $_ for (1, -1, -9223372036854775808, 9223372036854775807, 1234567890123456789, -1234567890123456789);
+
+done_testing;