diff --git a/git_command.py b/git_command.py
index 7add447..abaf6a5 100644
--- a/git_command.py
+++ b/git_command.py
@@ -283,6 +283,7 @@
         bare=False,
         input=None,
         capture_stdout=False,
+        capture_stdout_bytes: bool = False,
         capture_stderr=False,
         merge_output=False,
         disable_editor=False,
@@ -304,6 +305,12 @@
         self.cmdv = cmdv
         self.verify_command = verify_command
         self.stdout, self.stderr = None, None
+        if capture_stdout_bytes:
+            if merge_output:
+                raise ValueError(
+                    "capture_stdout_bytes cannot be combined with merge_output"
+                )
+            capture_stdout = True
 
         # Git on Windows wants its paths only using / for reliability.
         if platform_utils.isWindows():
@@ -347,6 +354,7 @@
                 command,
                 env,
                 capture_stdout=capture_stdout,
+                capture_stdout_bytes=capture_stdout_bytes,
                 capture_stderr=capture_stderr,
                 merge_output=merge_output,
                 ssh_proxy=ssh_proxy,
@@ -380,6 +388,7 @@
         command,
         env,
         capture_stdout=False,
+        capture_stdout_bytes: bool = False,
         capture_stderr=False,
         merge_output=False,
         ssh_proxy=None,
@@ -412,6 +421,10 @@
         # See go/tee-repo-stderr for more context.
         tee_stderr = False
         kwargs = {"encoding": "utf-8", "errors": "backslashreplace"}
+        if capture_stdout_bytes:
+            kwargs = {}
+            if isinstance(input, str):
+                input = input.encode("utf-8", "surrogateescape")
         if not (stdin or stdout or stderr):
             tee_stderr = True
             # stderr will be written back to sys.stderr even though it is
@@ -490,6 +503,10 @@
                     self.stderr = self._Tee(p.stderr, sys.stderr)
                 else:
                     self.stdout, self.stderr = p.communicate(input=input)
+                    if capture_stdout_bytes and isinstance(self.stderr, bytes):
+                        self.stderr = self.stderr.decode(
+                            "utf-8", "backslashreplace"
+                        ).replace("\r\n", "\n")
             finally:
                 if ssh_proxy:
                     ssh_proxy.remove_client(p)
@@ -541,17 +558,35 @@
             env.pop(key, None)
         return env
 
-    def VerifyCommand(self):
+    def VerifyCommand(self) -> None:
         if self.rc == 0:
             return None
-        stdout = (
-            "\n".join(self.stdout.split("\n")[:GIT_ERROR_STDOUT_LINES])
-            if self.stdout
-            else None
-        )
+        raw_stdout = self.stdout
+        if isinstance(raw_stdout, bytes):
+            first_records = re.split(
+                rb"\r\n|[\r\n\0]", raw_stdout, maxsplit=GIT_ERROR_STDOUT_LINES
+            )[:GIT_ERROR_STDOUT_LINES]
+            stdout = (
+                "\n".join(
+                    r.decode("utf-8", "backslashreplace") for r in first_records
+                )
+                if raw_stdout
+                else None
+            )
+        elif raw_stdout:
+            first_records = re.split(
+                r"\r\n|[\r\n\0]", raw_stdout, maxsplit=GIT_ERROR_STDOUT_LINES
+            )[:GIT_ERROR_STDOUT_LINES]
+            stdout = "\n".join(first_records)
+        else:
+            stdout = None
+
+        raw_stderr = self.stderr
+        if isinstance(raw_stderr, bytes):
+            raw_stderr = raw_stderr.decode("utf-8", "backslashreplace")
         stderr = (
-            "\n".join(self.stderr.split("\n")[:GIT_ERROR_STDERR_LINES])
-            if self.stderr
+            "\n".join(raw_stderr.split("\n")[:GIT_ERROR_STDERR_LINES])
+            if raw_stderr
             else None
         )
         project = self.project.name if self.project else None
diff --git a/tests/test_git_command.py b/tests/test_git_command.py
index 2d8b0af..3708d11 100644
--- a/tests/test_git_command.py
+++ b/tests/test_git_command.py
@@ -123,6 +123,7 @@
     """Tests the GitCommand class stderr log streaming cases."""
 
     def setUp(self):
+        _ = git_command.user_agent.git
         self.mock_process = mock.MagicMock()
         self.mock_process.communicate.return_value = (None, None)
         self.mock_process.wait.return_value = 0
@@ -228,6 +229,141 @@
         self.assertEqual(cmd.stderr, logs)
 
 
+class GitCommandCaptureBytesTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Tests the GitCommand class byte capture cases."""
+
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        _ = git_command.user_agent.git
+        self.mock_process = mock.MagicMock()
+        self.mock_process.communicate.return_value = (None, None)
+        self.mock_process.wait.return_value = 0
+
+        self.mock_popen = mock.MagicMock()
+        self.mock_popen.return_value = self.mock_process
+        mock.patch("subprocess.Popen", self.mock_popen).start()
+
+    def tearDown(self) -> None:
+        mock.patch.stopall()
+
+    def test_captures_stdout_as_bytes(self) -> None:
+        self.mock_process.communicate.return_value = (b"\xff\x00", b"error\r\n")
+
+        cmd = git_command.GitCommand(
+            None,
+            ["status"],
+            capture_stdout=True,
+            capture_stdout_bytes=True,
+            capture_stderr=True,
+        )
+
+        self.mock_popen.assert_called_once_with(
+            ["git", "status"],
+            cwd=None,
+            env=mock.ANY,
+            stdin=None,
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=subprocess.PIPE,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(cmd.stdout, b"\xff\x00")
+        self.assertEqual(cmd.stderr, "error\n")
+
+    def test_capture_stdout_bytes_auto_enables_capture_stdout(self) -> None:
+        self.mock_process.communicate.return_value = (b"output", b"")
+
+        cmd = git_command.GitCommand(
+            None,
+            ["status"],
+            capture_stdout_bytes=True,
+        )
+
+        self.mock_popen.assert_called_once_with(
+            ["git", "status"],
+            cwd=None,
+            env=mock.ANY,
+            stdin=None,
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=None,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(cmd.stdout, b"output")
+
+    def test_capture_stdout_bytes_with_merge_output_raises(self) -> None:
+        with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+            git_command.GitCommand(
+                None,
+                ["status"],
+                capture_stdout_bytes=True,
+                merge_output=True,
+            )
+
+    def test_captures_stdout_as_bytes_encodes_str_input(self) -> None:
+        self.mock_process.communicate.return_value = (b"output", b"")
+
+        git_command.GitCommand(
+            None,
+            ["status"],
+            input="hello world",
+            capture_stdout_bytes=True,
+        )
+
+        self.mock_process.communicate.assert_called_once_with(
+            input=b"hello world"
+        )
+
+    def test_captures_stdout_as_bytes_encodes_surrogate_input(self) -> None:
+        self.mock_process.communicate.return_value = (b"output", b"")
+
+        git_command.GitCommand(
+            None,
+            ["status"],
+            input="file_\udcff.txt",
+            capture_stdout_bytes=True,
+        )
+
+        self.mock_process.communicate.assert_called_once_with(
+            input=b"file_\xff.txt"
+        )
+
+    def test_captures_stdout_as_bytes_passes_bytes_input(self) -> None:
+        self.mock_process.communicate.return_value = (b"output", b"")
+
+        git_command.GitCommand(
+            None,
+            ["status"],
+            input=b"raw_\xff.txt",
+            capture_stdout_bytes=True,
+        )
+
+        self.mock_process.communicate.assert_called_once_with(
+            input=b"raw_\xff.txt"
+        )
+
+    def test_verify_command_truncates_nul_delimited_stdout(self) -> None:
+        cmd = git_command.GitCommand(
+            None,
+            ["status"],
+            capture_stdout_bytes=True,
+        )
+        cmd.rc = 1
+        cmd.stdout = b"first_file\0second_file\0third_file"
+        cmd.stderr = "stderr"
+        with self.assertRaises(git_command.GitCommandError) as cm:
+            cmd.VerifyCommand()
+        self.assertEqual(cm.exception.git_stdout, "first_file")
+
+    def test_verify_command_decodes_bytes_stdout(self) -> None:
+        cmd = git_command.GitCommand(
+            None,
+            ["status"],
+            capture_stdout_bytes=True,
+        )
+        cmd.rc = 1
+        cmd.stdout = b"error\xff\nline2"
+        cmd.stderr = "stderr"
+        with self.assertRaises(git_command.GitCommandError) as cm:
+            cmd.VerifyCommand()
+        self.assertEqual(cm.exception.git_stdout, "error\\xff")
+
+
 class GitCallUnitTest(unittest.TestCase):
     """Tests the _GitCall class (via git_command.git)."""