diff --git a/driver/environment.h b/driver/environment.h
index 20ae74a6f..679d20d93 100644
--- a/driver/environment.h
+++ b/driver/environment.h
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ struct TypeInfo
             sql_type == SQL_TINYINT || sql_type == SQL_SMALLINT ||
             sql_type == SQL_INTEGER || sql_type == SQL_BIGINT;
     }
+
+    inline bool IsStringType() const
+    {
+        return sql_type == SQL_VARCHAR;
+    }
 };
 
 
diff --git a/driver/odbc.cpp b/driver/odbc.cpp
index ed5448390..b1f7a6629 100644
--- a/driver/odbc.cpp
+++ b/driver/odbc.cpp
@@ -236,9 +236,12 @@ SQLColAttribute(HSTMT statement_handle, SQLUSMALLINT column_number, SQLUSMALLINT
                 num_value = column_info.is_nullable;
                 break;
             case SQL_DESC_OCTET_LENGTH:
-                if (column_info.fixed_size)
+                if (type_info.IsStringType())
                 {
-                    num_value = column_info.fixed_size;
+                    if (column_info.fixed_size)
+                        num_value = column_info.fixed_size * SIZEOF_CHAR;
+                    else
+                        num_value = type_info.octet_length * SIZEOF_CHAR;
                 }
                 else
                 {
diff --git a/driver/platform.h b/driver/platform.h
index ff938c970..eb7fd01a5 100644
--- a/driver/platform.h
+++ b/driver/platform.h
@@ -50,3 +50,13 @@
 #   define LPCTSTR const char*
 #   define TEXT(value)  value
 #endif
+
+#if defined (UNICODE)
+#   if defined (_win_)
+#       define SIZEOF_CHAR  sizeof(uint_least16_t)
+#   else
+#       define SIZEOF_CHAR  sizeof(char16_t)
+#   endif
+#else
+#   define SIZEOF_CHAR sizeof(char)
+#endif