diff --git a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/argument.rs b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/argument.rs
index ef81fc353..758510498 100644
--- a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/argument.rs
+++ b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/argument.rs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ pub enum FormatArgument {
 }
 
 pub trait ArgumentIter<'a>: Iterator<Item = &'a FormatArgument> {
-    fn get_char(&mut self) -> char;
+    fn get_char(&mut self) -> u8;
     fn get_i64(&mut self) -> i64;
     fn get_u64(&mut self) -> u64;
     fn get_f64(&mut self) -> f64;
@@ -39,14 +39,14 @@ pub trait ArgumentIter<'a>: Iterator<Item = &'a FormatArgument> {
 }
 
 impl<'a, T: Iterator<Item = &'a FormatArgument>> ArgumentIter<'a> for T {
-    fn get_char(&mut self) -> char {
+    fn get_char(&mut self) -> u8 {
         let Some(next) = self.next() else {
-            return '\0';
+            return b'\0';
         };
         match next {
-            FormatArgument::Char(c) => *c,
-            FormatArgument::Unparsed(s) => s.bytes().next().map_or('\0', char::from),
-            _ => '\0',
+            FormatArgument::Char(c) => *c as u8,
+            FormatArgument::Unparsed(s) => s.bytes().next().unwrap_or(b'\0'),
+            _ => b'\0',
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/spec.rs b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/spec.rs
index 6d342f742..af8a912d2 100644
--- a/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/spec.rs
+++ b/src/uucore/src/lib/features/format/spec.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 // For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
 // file that was distributed with this source code.
 
-// spell-checker:ignore (vars) intmax ptrdiff
+// spell-checker:ignore (vars) intmax ptrdiff padlen
 
 use crate::quoting_style::{escape_name, QuotingStyle};
 
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ use super::{
     },
     parse_escape_only, ArgumentIter, FormatChar, FormatError,
 };
-use std::{fmt::Display, io::Write, ops::ControlFlow};
+use std::{io::Write, ops::ControlFlow};
 
 /// A parsed specification for formatting a value
 ///
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ impl Spec {
         match self {
             Self::Char { width, align_left } => {
                 let width = resolve_asterisk(*width, &mut args)?.unwrap_or(0);
-                write_padded(writer, args.get_char(), width, false, *align_left)
+                write_padded(writer, &[args.get_char()], width, *align_left)
             }
             Self::String {
                 width,
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ impl Spec {
                     Some(p) if p < s.len() => &s[..p],
                     _ => s,
                 };
-                write_padded(writer, truncated, width, false, *align_left)
+                write_padded(writer, truncated.as_bytes(), width, *align_left)
             }
             Self::EscapedString => {
                 let s = args.get_str();
@@ -445,16 +445,17 @@ fn resolve_asterisk<'a>(
 
 fn write_padded(
     mut writer: impl Write,
-    text: impl Display,
+    text: &[u8],
     width: usize,
-    pad_zero: bool,
     left: bool,
 ) -> Result<(), FormatError> {
-    match (left, pad_zero) {
-        (false, false) => write!(writer, "{text: >width$}"),
-        (false, true) => write!(writer, "{text:0>width$}"),
-        // 0 is ignored if we pad left.
-        (true, _) => write!(writer, "{text: <width$}"),
+    let padlen = width.saturating_sub(text.len());
+    if left {
+        writer.write_all(text)?;
+        write!(writer, "{: <padlen$}", "")
+    } else {
+        write!(writer, "{: >padlen$}", "")?;
+        writer.write_all(text)
     }
     .map_err(FormatError::IoError)
 }
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs b/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs
index 46340c28e..38d7b10a6 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_printf.rs
@@ -673,7 +673,11 @@ fn sub_alternative_upper_hex() {
 
 #[test]
 fn char_as_byte() {
-    new_ucmd!().args(&["%c", "🙃"]).succeeds().stdout_only("ð");
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .args(&["%c", "🙃"])
+        .succeeds()
+        .no_stderr()
+        .stdout_is_bytes(b"\xf0");
 }
 
 #[test]
@@ -736,3 +740,28 @@ fn pad_unsigned_three() {
             .stdout_only(expected);
     }
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn pad_char() {
+    for (format, expected) in [("%3c", "  X"), ("%1c", "X"), ("%-1c", "X"), ("%-3c", "X  ")] {
+        new_ucmd!()
+            .args(&[format, "X"])
+            .succeeds()
+            .stdout_only(expected);
+    }
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn pad_string() {
+    for (format, expected) in [
+        ("%8s", "  bottle"),
+        ("%-8s", "bottle  "),
+        ("%6s", "bottle"),
+        ("%-6s", "bottle"),
+    ] {
+        new_ucmd!()
+            .args(&[format, "bottle"])
+            .succeeds()
+            .stdout_only(expected);
+    }
+}