diff --git a/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi b/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
index 3830f9d72..3e2620249 100644
--- a/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
+++ b/kitty/fast_data_types.pyi
@@ -993,7 +993,7 @@ class Screen:
     def resize(self, width: int, height: int) -> None:
         pass
 
-    def send_escape_code_to_child(self, code: int, text: str) -> bool:
+    def send_escape_code_to_child(self, code: int, text: Union[str, bytes]) -> bool:
         pass
 
     def reset_callbacks(self) -> None:
diff --git a/kitty/screen.c b/kitty/screen.c
index 9ed6852ca..0918b95b3 100644
--- a/kitty/screen.c
+++ b/kitty/screen.c
@@ -3235,7 +3235,8 @@ static PyObject*
 send_escape_code_to_child(Screen *self, PyObject *args) {
     int code;
     char *text;
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "is", &code, &text)) return NULL;
+    Py_ssize_t sz;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "is#", &code, &text, &sz)) return NULL;
     if (write_escape_code_to_child(self, code, text)) Py_RETURN_TRUE;
     Py_RETURN_FALSE;
 }