diff --git a/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.md b/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.md
index 5133f7d8d..12ea0ba23 100644
--- a/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.md
+++ b/documentation/RELEASE_NOTES.md
@@ -17,6 +17,19 @@ should also be read to understand what has changed since earlier releases.
 <!-- Insert new items immediately below here ... -->
 
 
+### Make `epicsInt8` signed on all architectures
+
+The `epicsInt8` and thus `DBF_CHAR` types have always been unsigned on
+architectures where `char` is unsigned, for example on many PowerPC CPU
+architectures. This was counter-intuitive, and resulted in IOC behavior
+differing between architectures when converting `DBF_CHAR` values into a
+signed integer or floating point type.
+
+**WARNING**: This fix may change behavior of existing databases on target
+architectures with unsigned `char` (mainly PowerPC) when using input links to
+read from `CHAR` arrays. Architectures with signed `char` (usually x86) should
+be unaffected, although some compilers might generate new warnings.
+
 ### Allow hexadecimal and octal numbers in hardware links
 
 [GH:213](https://github.com/epics-base/epics-base/pull/213)
diff --git a/modules/ca/src/client/comBuf.h b/modules/ca/src/client/comBuf.h
index 6a4899414..3d5f58c45 100644
--- a/modules/ca/src/client/comBuf.h
+++ b/modules/ca/src/client/comBuf.h
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ public:
     bool push ( const T & value );
     template < class T >
     unsigned push ( const T * pValue, unsigned nElem );
+    unsigned push ( const char * pValue, unsigned nElem );
     unsigned push ( const epicsInt8 * pValue, unsigned nElem );
     unsigned push ( const epicsUInt8 * pValue, unsigned nElem );
     unsigned push ( const epicsOldString * pValue, unsigned nElem );
@@ -208,6 +209,11 @@ inline unsigned comBuf :: push ( const epicsUInt8 *pValue, unsigned nElem )
     return copyInBytes ( pValue, nElem );
 }
 
+inline unsigned comBuf :: push ( const char *pValue, unsigned nElem )
+{
+    return copyInBytes ( pValue, nElem );
+}
+
 inline unsigned comBuf :: push ( const epicsOldString * pValue, unsigned nElem )
 {
     unsigned index = this->nextWriteIndex;
diff --git a/modules/ca/src/client/comQueRecv.cpp b/modules/ca/src/client/comQueRecv.cpp
index 60e142a35..d7d07361b 100644
--- a/modules/ca/src/client/comQueRecv.cpp
+++ b/modules/ca/src/client/comQueRecv.cpp
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ void comQueRecv::clear ()
     this->nBytesPending = 0u;
 }
 
-unsigned comQueRecv::copyOutBytes ( epicsInt8 *pBuf, unsigned nBytes )
+unsigned comQueRecv::copyOutBytes ( char *pBuf, unsigned nBytes )
 {
     unsigned totalBytes = 0u;
     do {
diff --git a/modules/ca/src/client/comQueRecv.h b/modules/ca/src/client/comQueRecv.h
index ad8bead88..01c961e51 100644
--- a/modules/ca/src/client/comQueRecv.h
+++ b/modules/ca/src/client/comQueRecv.h
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ public:
     comQueRecv ( comBufMemoryManager & );
     ~comQueRecv ();
     unsigned occupiedBytes () const;
-    unsigned copyOutBytes ( epicsInt8 *pBuf, unsigned nBytes );
+    unsigned copyOutBytes ( char *pBuf, unsigned nBytes );
     unsigned removeBytes ( unsigned nBytes );
     void pushLastComBufReceived ( comBuf & );
     void clear ();
diff --git a/modules/libcom/src/misc/epicsTypes.h b/modules/libcom/src/misc/epicsTypes.h
index 432c8961c..5efd69464 100644
--- a/modules/libcom/src/misc/epicsTypes.h
+++ b/modules/libcom/src/misc/epicsTypes.h
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ typedef enum {
  * These are sufficient for all our current archs
  * @{
  */
-typedef char            epicsInt8;
+typedef signed char     epicsInt8;
 typedef unsigned char   epicsUInt8;
 typedef short           epicsInt16;
 typedef unsigned short  epicsUInt16;