diff --git a/types.cc b/types.cc
index 5f24e52e56..4e8123d037 100644
--- a/types.cc
+++ b/types.cc
@@ -2885,6 +2885,9 @@ data_value::data_value(bytes v) : data_value(make_new(bytes_type, v)) {
 data_value::data_value(sstring v) : data_value(make_new(utf8_type, v)) {
 }
 
+data_value::data_value(const char* v) : data_value(make_new(utf8_type, sstring(v))) {
+}
+
 data_value::data_value(bool v) : data_value(make_new(boolean_type, v)) {
 }
 
diff --git a/types.hh b/types.hh
index acfbd635ca..04f11b5d66 100644
--- a/types.hh
+++ b/types.hh
@@ -308,6 +308,7 @@ public:
     // note: somewhat dangerous, consider a factory function instead
     explicit data_value(bytes);
     data_value(sstring);
+    data_value(const char*);
     data_value(bool);
     data_value(int32_t);
     data_value(int64_t);