diff --git a/src/lang/text/include/sourcemeta/core/text.h b/src/lang/text/include/sourcemeta/core/text.h
index 9c5766bcf..5bc34b678 100644
--- a/src/lang/text/include/sourcemeta/core/text.h
+++ b/src/lang/text/include/sourcemeta/core/text.h
@@ -317,6 +317,23 @@ auto join_to(std::ostream &stream, const Range &items,
   }
 }
 
+/// @ingroup text
+///
+/// Decode a hexadecimal string into its raw bytes, returning no value when
+/// the input has an odd length or contains a character outside the
+/// hexadecimal alphabet. Both letter cases are accepted. For example:
+///
+/// ```cpp
+/// #include <sourcemeta/core/text.h>
+/// #include <cassert>
+///
+/// const auto bytes{sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("666f6f")};
+/// assert(bytes.has_value());
+/// assert(bytes.value() == "foo");
+/// ```
+SOURCEMETA_CORE_TEXT_EXPORT
+auto hex_to_bytes(const std::string_view input) -> std::optional<std::string>;
+
 /// @ingroup text
 ///
 /// Return `input` with `suffix` removed from the end under ASCII
diff --git a/src/lang/text/text.cc b/src/lang/text/text.cc
index e7e95addf..86ce21d2c 100644
--- a/src/lang/text/text.cc
+++ b/src/lang/text/text.cc
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include <sourcemeta/core/text.h>
 
 #include <cstddef>     // std::size_t
+#include <cstdint>     // std::int8_t
 #include <filesystem>  // std::filesystem::path
 #include <optional>    // std::optional, std::nullopt
 #include <string>      // std::string
@@ -25,6 +26,18 @@ auto to_ascii_uppercase(const char character) noexcept -> char {
              : character;
 }
 
+auto hex_digit_value(const char character) noexcept -> std::int8_t {
+  if (character >= '0' && character <= '9') {
+    return static_cast<std::int8_t>(character - '0');
+  } else if (character >= 'a' && character <= 'f') {
+    return static_cast<std::int8_t>(character - 'a' + 10);
+  } else if (character >= 'A' && character <= 'F') {
+    return static_cast<std::int8_t>(character - 'A' + 10);
+  } else {
+    return -1;
+  }
+}
+
 } // namespace
 
 namespace sourcemeta::core {
@@ -153,4 +166,24 @@ auto remove_suffix_ignore_case(const std::string_view input,
   return result;
 }
 
+auto hex_to_bytes(const std::string_view input) -> std::optional<std::string> {
+  if (input.size() % 2 != 0) {
+    return std::nullopt;
+  }
+
+  std::string result;
+  result.reserve(input.size() / 2);
+  for (std::size_t index{0}; index < input.size(); index += 2) {
+    const auto high{hex_digit_value(input[index])};
+    const auto low{hex_digit_value(input[index + 1])};
+    if (high < 0 || low < 0) {
+      return std::nullopt;
+    }
+
+    result.push_back(static_cast<char>((high << 4) | low));
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
+
 } // namespace sourcemeta::core
diff --git a/test/text/CMakeLists.txt b/test/text/CMakeLists.txt
index 73f6fa84c..a711a3937 100644
--- a/test/text/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/text/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ sourcemeta_googletest(NAMESPACE sourcemeta PROJECT core NAME text
           text_is_lowercase_test.cc
           text_truncate_test.cc text_remove_suffix_ignore_case_test.cc
           text_trim_test.cc text_take_until_test.cc text_split_once_test.cc
-          text_split_test.cc text_join_to_test.cc)
+          text_split_test.cc text_join_to_test.cc
+          text_hex_to_bytes_test.cc)
 
 target_link_libraries(sourcemeta_core_text_unit
   PRIVATE sourcemeta::core::text)
diff --git a/test/text/text_hex_to_bytes_test.cc b/test/text/text_hex_to_bytes_test.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5f8f256c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/text/text_hex_to_bytes_test.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+#include <gtest/gtest.h>
+
+#include <sourcemeta/core/text.h>
+
+#include <string> // std::string
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, empty_input) {
+  const auto result{sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("")};
+  EXPECT_TRUE(result.has_value());
+  EXPECT_EQ(result.value(), "");
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, single_byte_lowercase) {
+  const auto result{sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("ff")};
+  EXPECT_TRUE(result.has_value());
+  EXPECT_EQ(result.value(), "\xFF");
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, single_byte_uppercase) {
+  const auto result{sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("FF")};
+  EXPECT_TRUE(result.has_value());
+  EXPECT_EQ(result.value(), "\xFF");
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, mixed_case) {
+  const auto result{sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("DeadBeef")};
+  EXPECT_TRUE(result.has_value());
+  EXPECT_EQ(result.value(), "\xDE\xAD\xBE\xEF");
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, ascii_word) {
+  const auto result{sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("666f6f626172")};
+  EXPECT_TRUE(result.has_value());
+  EXPECT_EQ(result.value(), "foobar");
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, nul_byte) {
+  const auto result{sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("00")};
+  EXPECT_TRUE(result.has_value());
+  const std::string expected("\x00", 1);
+  EXPECT_EQ(result.value(), expected);
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, leading_zeros) {
+  const auto result{sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("0001")};
+  EXPECT_TRUE(result.has_value());
+  const std::string expected("\x00\x01", 2);
+  EXPECT_EQ(result.value(), expected);
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, all_digit_pairs) {
+  const auto result{sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("0123456789abcdef")};
+  EXPECT_TRUE(result.has_value());
+  EXPECT_EQ(result.value(), "\x01\x23\x45\x67\x89\xAB\xCD\xEF");
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, rejects_odd_length) {
+  EXPECT_FALSE(sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("abc").has_value());
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, rejects_single_character) {
+  EXPECT_FALSE(sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("a").has_value());
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, rejects_non_hexadecimal_letter) {
+  EXPECT_FALSE(sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("zz").has_value());
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, rejects_interior_space) {
+  EXPECT_FALSE(sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("ab c").has_value());
+}
+
+TEST(Text_hex_to_bytes, rejects_prefix_notation) {
+  EXPECT_FALSE(sourcemeta::core::hex_to_bytes("0xff").has_value());
+}