diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7c45572..017854a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ On release mode it falls back to `include_str!`, `include_bytes!` and `include_d
 ## Usage
 
 ```rs
-let contents: String = embed::string!("path/to/file.txt");
-let bytes: Vec<u8> = embed::bytes!("path/to/image.png");
+let contents: Cow<'_, str> = embed::string!("path/to/file.txt");
+let bytes: Cow<'_, [u8]> = embed::bytes!("path/to/image.png");
 ```
 
 ## License
diff --git a/src/file.rs b/src/file.rs
index 3bf1e6b..b9b8a47 100644
--- a/src/file.rs
+++ b/src/file.rs
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ macro_rules! bytes {
                 .expect("embed: file has no parent")
                 .join($path);
 
-            Cow::<'static, str>::Owned(fs::read_to_string(&file).unwrap_or_else(|error| {
+            Cow::<'static, [u8]>::Owned(fs::read(&file).unwrap_or_else(|error| {
                 panic!(
                     "embed: failed to read file {file}: {error}",
                     file = file.display()