diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dd5f5b6..377fcf8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ The `parse/2` function receives a list of tuples with the command line option
 specifications. The type specification for the tuple is:
 
 ```erlang
--type arg_type() :: 'atom' | 'binary' | 'boolean' | 'float' | 'integer' | 'string'.
+-type arg_type() :: 'atom' | 'binary' | 'utf8_binary' | 'boolean' | 'float' | 'integer' | 'string'.
 
 -type arg_value() :: atom() | binary() | boolean() | float() | integer() | string().
 
@@ -244,7 +244,8 @@ A long option can have the following syntax:
 Argument Types
 --------------
 
-The arguments allowed for options are: *atom*; *binary*; *boolean*; *float*; *integer*; *string*.
+The arguments allowed for options are: *atom*; *binary*; *utf8_binary*; *boolean*;
+*float*; *integer*; *string*.
 The `getopt` module checks every argument to see if it can be converted to its
 correct type.
 
@@ -256,6 +257,17 @@ Numeric arguments can only be negative when passed as part of an assignment expr
 
 e.g. `--increment=-100` is a valid expression; whereas `--increment -100` is invalid
 
+Arguments of `utf8_binary` type allow proper binary encoding of arguments containing
+code points greater than 255. The resulting value is a normalized UTF-8 binary.
+
+As of Erlang/20, `standard_error` device has `unicode` option set to `false`.
+It prevents correct printing of usage for arguments containing unicode
+binaries/strings as default values. To fix this, one needs to enable unicode:
+
+```erlang
+io:setopts(standard_error, [{unicode, true}]).
+```
+
 
 Implicit Arguments
 ------------------
diff --git a/src/getopt.erl b/src/getopt.erl
index b5ee7b4..847a98a 100644
--- a/src/getopt.erl
+++ b/src/getopt.erl
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
 -export([parse/2, check/2, parse_and_check/2, format_error/2,
          usage/2, usage/3, usage/4, usage/6, tokenize/1]).
--export([usage_cmd_line/2]).
+-export([usage_cmd_line/2, usage_options/1]).
 
 -define(LINE_LENGTH, 75).
 -define(MIN_USAGE_COMMAND_LINE_OPTION_LENGTH, 25).
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
                               (Char) =:= $\n orelse (Char) =:= $\r)).
 
 %% Atom indicating the data type that an argument can be converted to.
--type arg_type()                                :: 'atom' | 'binary' | 'boolean' | 'float' | 'integer' | 'string'.
+-type arg_type()                                :: 'atom' | 'binary' | 'utf8_binary' | 'boolean' | 'float' | 'integer' | 'string'.
 %% Data type that an argument can be converted to.
 -type arg_value()                               :: atom() | binary() | boolean() | float() | integer() | string().
 %% Argument specification.
@@ -435,6 +435,8 @@ to_type({Type, _DefaultArg}, Arg) ->
     to_type(Type, Arg);
 to_type(binary, Arg) ->
     list_to_binary(Arg);
+to_type(utf8_binary, Arg) ->
+    unicode:characters_to_nfc_binary(Arg);
 to_type(atom, Arg) ->
     list_to_atom(Arg);
 to_type(integer, Arg) ->
@@ -730,8 +732,8 @@ usage_option_text({_Name, Short, Long, _ArgSpec, _Help}) ->
 
 
 -spec usage_help_text(option_spec()) -> string().
-usage_help_text({_Name, _Short, _Long, {_ArgType, ArgValue}, [_ | _] = Help}) ->
-    Help ++ " [default: " ++ default_arg_value_to_string(ArgValue) ++ "]";
+usage_help_text({_Name, _Short, _Long, {ArgType, ArgValue}, [_ | _] = Help}) ->
+    Help ++ " [default: " ++ default_arg_value_to_string(ArgType, ArgValue) ++ "]";
 usage_help_text({_Name, _Short, _Long, _ArgSpec, Help}) ->
     Help.
 
@@ -804,15 +806,17 @@ wrap_text_line(_Length, [], Acc, _Count, _CurrentLineAcc) ->
     lists:reverse(Acc).
 
 
-default_arg_value_to_string(Value) when is_atom(Value) ->
+default_arg_value_to_string(_, Value) when is_atom(Value) ->
     atom_to_list(Value);
-default_arg_value_to_string(Value) when is_binary(Value) ->
+default_arg_value_to_string(binary, Value) when is_binary(Value) ->
     binary_to_list(Value);
-default_arg_value_to_string(Value) when is_integer(Value) ->
+default_arg_value_to_string(utf8_binary, Value) when is_binary(Value) ->
+    unicode:characters_to_list(Value);
+default_arg_value_to_string(_, Value) when is_integer(Value) ->
     integer_to_list(Value);
-default_arg_value_to_string(Value) when is_float(Value) ->
+default_arg_value_to_string(_, Value) when is_float(Value) ->
     lists:flatten(io_lib:format("~w", [Value]));
-default_arg_value_to_string(Value) ->
+default_arg_value_to_string(_, Value) ->
     Value.
 
 
diff --git a/test/getopt_test.erl b/test/getopt_test.erl
index 7ec0f35..1dc9a34 100644
--- a/test/getopt_test.erl
+++ b/test/getopt_test.erl
@@ -323,3 +323,18 @@ check_test_() ->
       ?_assertEqual("option 'verbose' has invalid argument: 100",
                     format_error(OptSpecList, {error, {invalid_option_arg, {verbose, "100"}}}))}
     ].
+
+utf8_binary_test_() ->
+  OptSpecList = [{utf8, undefined, "utf8", utf8_binary, "UTF-8 arg"}],
+  Unicode = [228, 220, 223, 1455],
+  Utf8 = unicode:characters_to_binary(Unicode),
+  io:setopts(standard_error, [{encoding, utf8}]),
+  OptSpecsWithDefault = [{utf8, undefined, "utf8", {utf8_binary, Utf8}, "UTF-8 arg"}],
+  [{"Empty utf8_binary argument",
+    ?_assertEqual({ok, {[{utf8, <<>>}], []}}, parse(OptSpecList, ["--utf8", ""]))},
+   {"Non empty utf8_binary argument",
+    ?_assertEqual({ok, {[{utf8, Utf8}], []}}, parse(OptSpecList, ["--utf8", Unicode]))},
+   {"Default utf8_binary argument",
+    ?_assertEqual({ok, {[{utf8, Utf8}], []}}, parse(OptSpecsWithDefault, []))},
+   {"Default utf8_binary argument usage",
+    ?_assert(is_list(string:find(getopt:usage_options(OptSpecsWithDefault), Unicode)))}].