diff --git a/serde/json/deserializer.nim b/serde/json/deserializer.nim
index 9587de7..4d75902 100644
--- a/serde/json/deserializer.nim
+++ b/serde/json/deserializer.nim
@@ -229,13 +229,15 @@ proc fromJson*[T: ref object or object](_: type T, json: JsonNode): ?!T =
 
   success(res)
 
-proc fromJson*[T: ref object or object](_: type T, bytes: seq[byte]): ?!T =
-  let json = ?parse(string.fromBytes(bytes))
-  T.fromJson(json)
-
 proc fromJson*(_: type JsonNode, jsn: string): ?!JsonNode =
   return parser.parseJson(jsn)
 
+proc fromJson*[T: ref object or object](_: type T, bytes: openArray[byte]): ?!T =
+  let json = string.fromBytes(bytes)
+  static:
+    echo "typeof json after parse: ", typeof json
+  T.fromJson(json)
+
 proc fromJson*[T: ref object or object](_: type T, jsn: string): ?!T =
   let jsn = ?parser.parseJson(jsn) # full qualification required in-module only
   T.fromJson(jsn)
diff --git a/tests/json/testDeserialize.nim b/tests/json/testDeserialize.nim
index 3a01ef9..c0e7ef3 100644
--- a/tests/json/testDeserialize.nim
+++ b/tests/json/testDeserialize.nim
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import std/options
 import std/unittest
 import pkg/stint
 import pkg/serde
+import pkg/stew/byteutils
 import pkg/questionable
 import pkg/questionable/results
 
@@ -137,3 +138,18 @@ suite "json serialization - deserialize":
     let deserialized = !MyRef.fromJson(json)
     check deserialized.mystring == expected.mystring
     check deserialized.myint == expected.myint
+
+  test "deserializes openArray[byte]":
+    type MyRef = ref object
+      mystring: string
+      myint: int
+
+    let expected = MyRef(mystring: "abc", myint: 1)
+    let byteArray = """{
+            "mystring": "abc",
+            "myint": 1
+          }""".toBytes
+
+    let deserialized = !MyRef.fromJson(byteArray)
+    check deserialized.mystring == expected.mystring
+    check deserialized.myint == expected.myint