diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/PrototypeArgs.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/PrototypeArgs.java
index bb45a56c7..b3c5b424e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/PrototypeArgs.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/frontend/parser/PrototypeArgs.java
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ private static void handleListOrHashArgument(Parser parser, ListNode args, boole
             parser.tokenIndex = saveIndex;
         }
 
-        ListNode argList = ListParser.parseZeroOrMoreList(parser, 0, false, true, false, false);
+        ListNode argList = ListParser.parseZeroOrMoreList(parser, 0, false, false, false, false);
         // @ and % consume remaining arguments in LIST context
 //        for (Node element : argList.elements) {
 //            element.setAnnotation("context", "LIST");
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/CustomFileChannel.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/CustomFileChannel.java
index cb9e8dc84..1fda20e8a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/CustomFileChannel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/CustomFileChannel.java
@@ -354,14 +354,10 @@ public RuntimeScalar sysread(int length) {
                 return new RuntimeScalar("");
             }
 
-            // Convert bytes to string representation
             buffer.flip();
-            StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder(bytesRead);
-            while (buffer.hasRemaining()) {
-                result.append((char) (buffer.get() & 0xFF));
-            }
-
-            return new RuntimeScalar(result.toString());
+            byte[] readBytes = new byte[buffer.remaining()];
+            buffer.get(readBytes);
+            return new RuntimeScalar(readBytes);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             getGlobalVariable("main::!").set(e.getMessage());
             return new RuntimeScalar(); // undef
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/InternalPipeHandle.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/InternalPipeHandle.java
index c2f176e90..47487f898 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/InternalPipeHandle.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/InternalPipeHandle.java
@@ -178,13 +178,9 @@ public RuntimeScalar sysread(int length) {
                 return new RuntimeScalar("");
             }
 
-            // Convert bytes to string representation
-            StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder(bytesRead);
-            for (int i = 0; i < bytesRead; i++) {
-                result.append((char) (buffer[i] & 0xFF));
-            }
-
-            return new RuntimeScalar(result.toString());
+            byte[] readBytes = new byte[bytesRead];
+            System.arraycopy(buffer, 0, readBytes, 0, bytesRead);
+            return new RuntimeScalar(readBytes);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             isEOF = true;
             getGlobalVariable("main::!").set(e.getMessage());
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/PipeInputChannel.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/PipeInputChannel.java
index 5f10b345c..05e1dbce2 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/PipeInputChannel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/PipeInputChannel.java
@@ -332,13 +332,9 @@ public RuntimeScalar sysread(int length) {
                 return new RuntimeScalar("");
             }
 
-            // Convert bytes to string representation
-            StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder(bytesRead);
-            for (int i = 0; i < bytesRead; i++) {
-                result.append((char) (buffer[i] & 0xFF));
-            }
-
-            return new RuntimeScalar(result.toString());
+            byte[] readBytes = new byte[bytesRead];
+            System.arraycopy(buffer, 0, readBytes, 0, bytesRead);
+            return new RuntimeScalar(readBytes);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             getGlobalVariable("main::!").set(e.getMessage());
             return new RuntimeScalar(); // undef
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/StandardIO.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/StandardIO.java
index a246558d3..705a40fcf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/StandardIO.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/io/StandardIO.java
@@ -285,13 +285,9 @@ public RuntimeScalar sysread(int length) {
                     return new RuntimeScalar("");
                 }
 
-                // Convert bytes to string representation
-                StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder(bytesRead);
-                for (int i = 0; i < bytesRead; i++) {
-                    result.append((char) (buffer[i] & 0xFF));
-                }
-
-                return new RuntimeScalar(result.toString());
+                byte[] readBytes = new byte[bytesRead];
+                System.arraycopy(buffer, 0, readBytes, 0, bytesRead);
+                return new RuntimeScalar(readBytes);
             } catch (IOException e) {
                 getGlobalVariable("main::!").set(e.getMessage());
                 return new RuntimeScalar(); // undef
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/IOOperator.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/IOOperator.java
index 78aeb24d1..a0f8e610a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/IOOperator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/IOOperator.java
@@ -726,6 +726,9 @@ public static RuntimeScalar sysread(int ctx, RuntimeBase... args) {
         newValue.append(data);
 
         target.set(newValue.toString());
+        if (result.type == RuntimeScalarType.BYTE_STRING && target.type != RuntimeScalarType.TIED_SCALAR) {
+            target.type = RuntimeScalarType.BYTE_STRING;
+        }
         return new RuntimeScalar(bytesRead);
     }
 
@@ -874,7 +877,7 @@ public static RuntimeScalar syswrite(int ctx, RuntimeBase... args) {
     /**
      * Checks if the handle has a :utf8 layer.
      */
-    private static boolean hasUtf8Layer(RuntimeIO fh) {
+    public static boolean hasUtf8Layer(RuntimeIO fh) {
         IOHandle handle = fh.ioHandle;
         while (handle instanceof LayeredIOHandle layered) {
             String layers = layered.getCurrentLayers();
@@ -2139,7 +2142,18 @@ public static RuntimeScalar sysseek(int ctx, RuntimeBase... args) {
     }
 
     public static RuntimeScalar read(int ctx, RuntimeBase... args) {
-        return sysread(ctx, args);
+        RuntimeScalar result = sysread(ctx, args);
+        if (args.length >= 2) {
+            RuntimeScalar fileHandle = args[0].scalar();
+            RuntimeIO fh = fileHandle.getRuntimeIO();
+            if (fh != null && hasUtf8Layer(fh)) {
+                RuntimeScalar target = args[1].scalar().scalarDeref();
+                if (target.type != RuntimeScalarType.TIED_SCALAR) {
+                    target.type = RuntimeScalarType.STRING;
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return result;
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/Operator.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/Operator.java
index d6f8716ad..7160304ba 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/Operator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/Operator.java
@@ -290,7 +290,11 @@ public static RuntimeScalar substr(int ctx, RuntimeBase... args) {
             String extractedSubstring = result;
             lvalue.set(replacement);
             // Return the extracted substring, not the lvalue (which now contains the replacement)
-            return new RuntimeScalar(extractedSubstring);
+            RuntimeScalar extracted = new RuntimeScalar(extractedSubstring);
+            if (((RuntimeScalar) args[0]).type == RuntimeScalarType.BYTE_STRING) {
+                extracted.type = RuntimeScalarType.BYTE_STRING;
+            }
+            return extracted;
         }
 
         return lvalue;
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/Readline.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/Readline.java
index 8d5b7ba65..69da9d1cc 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/Readline.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/operators/Readline.java
@@ -360,6 +360,9 @@ public static RuntimeScalar read(RuntimeList args) {
 
         // Update the scalar with the new value
         scalar.set(scalarValue.toString());
+        if (!IOOperator.hasUtf8Layer(fh)) {
+            scalar.type = RuntimeScalarType.BYTE_STRING;
+        }
 
         // Return the number of characters read
         return new RuntimeScalar(charsRead);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/runtimetypes/RuntimeSubstrLvalue.java b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/runtimetypes/RuntimeSubstrLvalue.java
index 5fe125bc3..85f898f3e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/runtimetypes/RuntimeSubstrLvalue.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/perlonjava/runtime/runtimetypes/RuntimeSubstrLvalue.java
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public RuntimeSubstrLvalue(RuntimeScalar parent, String str, int offset, int len
         this.offset = offset;
         this.length = length;
 
-        this.type = RuntimeScalarType.STRING;
+        this.type = (parent.type == RuntimeScalarType.BYTE_STRING) ? RuntimeScalarType.BYTE_STRING : RuntimeScalarType.STRING;
         this.value = str;
     }