diff --git a/engineio/packet.py b/engineio/packet.py
index 5e70511a..79267044 100644
--- a/engineio/packet.py
+++ b/engineio/packet.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 (OPEN, CLOSE, PING, PONG, MESSAGE, UPGRADE, NOOP) = (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
 packet_names = ['OPEN', 'CLOSE', 'PING', 'PONG', 'MESSAGE', 'UPGRADE', 'NOOP']
 
+binary_types = (six.binary_type, bytearray)
+
 
 class Packet(object):
     """Engine.IO packet."""
@@ -20,7 +22,7 @@ def __init__(self, packet_type=NOOP, data=None, binary=None,
             self.binary = binary
         elif isinstance(data, six.text_type):
             self.binary = False
-        elif isinstance(data, six.binary_type):
+        elif isinstance(data, binary_types):
             self.binary = True
         else:
             self.binary = False
@@ -47,14 +49,14 @@ def encode(self, b64=False, always_bytes=True):
                                               separators=(',', ':'))
         elif self.data is not None:
             encoded_packet += str(self.data)
-        if always_bytes and not isinstance(encoded_packet, six.binary_type):
+        if always_bytes and not isinstance(encoded_packet, binary_types):
             encoded_packet = encoded_packet.encode('utf-8')
         return encoded_packet
 
     def decode(self, encoded_packet):
         """Decode a transmitted package."""
         b64 = False
-        if not isinstance(encoded_packet, six.binary_type):
+        if not isinstance(encoded_packet, binary_types):
             encoded_packet = encoded_packet.encode('utf-8')
         self.packet_type = six.byte2int(encoded_packet[0:1])
         if self.packet_type == 98:  # 'b' --> binary base64 encoded packet
diff --git a/tests/test_packet.py b/tests/test_packet.py
index d0541589..e05cfaf4 100644
--- a/tests/test_packet.py
+++ b/tests/test_packet.py
@@ -37,6 +37,14 @@ def test_encode_binary_packet(self):
         self.assertTrue(pkt.binary)
         self.assertEqual(pkt.encode(), b'\x04\x01\x02\x03')
 
+    def test_encode_binary_bytearray_packet(self):
+        pkt = packet.Packet(packet.MESSAGE, data=bytearray(b'\x01\x02\x03'),
+                            binary=True)
+        self.assertEqual(pkt.packet_type, packet.MESSAGE)
+        self.assertEqual(pkt.data, b'\x01\x02\x03')
+        self.assertTrue(pkt.binary)
+        self.assertEqual(pkt.encode(), b'\x04\x01\x02\x03')
+
     def test_encode_binary_b64_packet(self):
         pkt = packet.Packet(packet.MESSAGE, data=b'\x01\x02\x03\x04',
                             binary=True)
@@ -56,6 +64,10 @@ def test_decode_binary_packet(self):
         pkt = packet.Packet(encoded_packet=b'\x04\x01\x02\x03')
         self.assertTrue(pkt.encode(), b'\x04\x01\x02\x03')
 
+    def test_decode_binary_bytearray_packet(self):
+        pkt = packet.Packet(encoded_packet=bytearray(b'\x04\x01\x02\x03'))
+        self.assertTrue(pkt.encode(), b'\x04\x01\x02\x03')
+
     def test_decode_binary_b64_packet(self):
         pkt = packet.Packet(encoded_packet=b'b4AAEC')
         self.assertTrue(pkt.encode(), b'\x04\x01\x02\x03')