diff --git a/src/bidiag.jl b/src/bidiag.jl
index 2e323f6f..2c0714e7 100644
--- a/src/bidiag.jl
+++ b/src/bidiag.jl
@@ -65,16 +65,13 @@ julia> Bl = Bidiagonal(dv, ev, :L) # ev is on the first subdiagonal
  ⋅  ⋅  9  4
 ```
 """
-function Bidiagonal(dv::V, ev::V, uplo::Symbol) where {T,V<:AbstractVector{T}}
-    Bidiagonal{T,V}(dv, ev, uplo)
-end
-function Bidiagonal(dv::V, ev::V, uplo::AbstractChar) where {T,V<:AbstractVector{T}}
+function Bidiagonal(dv::V, ev::V, uplo::Union{Symbol, AbstractChar}) where {T,V<:AbstractVector{T}}
     Bidiagonal{T,V}(dv, ev, uplo)
 end
 
 #To allow Bidiagonal's where the "dv" is Vector{T} and "ev" Vector{S},
 #where T and S can be promoted
-function Bidiagonal(dv::Vector{T}, ev::Vector{S}, uplo::Symbol) where {T,S}
+function Bidiagonal(dv::Vector{T}, ev::Vector{S}, uplo::Union{Symbol, AbstractChar}) where {T,S}
     TS = promote_type(T,S)
     return Bidiagonal{TS,Vector{TS}}(dv, ev, uplo)
 end
diff --git a/test/bidiag.jl b/test/bidiag.jl
index 3abf2cb5..c5ed26e1 100644
--- a/test/bidiag.jl
+++ b/test/bidiag.jl
@@ -512,6 +512,10 @@ Random.seed!(1)
     @test Matrix{ComplexF64}(BD) == BD
 end
 
+@testset "Constructors with Char uplo" begin
+    @test Bidiagonal(Int8[1,2], [1], 'U') == Bidiagonal(Int8[1,2], [1], :U)
+end
+
 # Issue 10742 and similar
 let A = Bidiagonal([1,2,3], [0,0], :U)
     @test istril(A)