diff --git a/crates/nu-command/src/strings/char_.rs b/crates/nu-command/src/strings/char_.rs
index fe755c2912..a6125b8acc 100644
--- a/crates/nu-command/src/strings/char_.rs
+++ b/crates/nu-command/src/strings/char_.rs
@@ -192,6 +192,11 @@ impl Command for Char {
                 example: r#"char -u 1f378"#,
                 result: Some(Value::test_string("\u{1f378}")),
             },
+            Example {
+                description: "Output a character from an integer",
+                example: r#"char -u 0x61"#,
+                result: Some(Value::test_string("a")),
+            },
             Example {
                 description: "Output multi-byte Unicode character",
                 example: r#"char -u 1F468 200D 1F466 200D 1F466"#,
@@ -235,8 +240,8 @@ impl Command for Char {
                 .into_pipeline_data(engine_state.ctrlc.clone()));
         }
         // handle -u flag
-        let args: Vec<String> = call.rest(engine_state, stack, 0)?;
         if call.has_flag("unicode") {
+            let args: Vec<Value> = call.rest(engine_state, stack, 0)?;
             if args.is_empty() {
                 return Err(ShellError::MissingParameter(
                     "missing at least one unicode character".into(),
@@ -249,10 +254,11 @@ impl Command for Char {
                     .positional_nth(i)
                     .expect("Unexpected missing argument")
                     .span;
-                multi_byte.push(string_to_unicode_char(arg, &span)?)
+                multi_byte.push(value_to_unicode_char(arg, &span)?)
             }
             Ok(Value::string(multi_byte, call_span).into_pipeline_data())
         } else {
+            let args: Vec<String> = call.rest(engine_state, stack, 0)?;
             if args.is_empty() {
                 return Err(ShellError::MissingParameter(
                     "missing name of the character".into(),
@@ -274,10 +280,14 @@ impl Command for Char {
     }
 }
 
-fn string_to_unicode_char(s: &str, t: &Span) -> Result<char, ShellError> {
-    let decoded_char = u32::from_str_radix(s, 16)
-        .ok()
-        .and_then(std::char::from_u32);
+fn value_to_unicode_char(value: &Value, t: &Span) -> Result<char, ShellError> {
+    let decoded_char = match *value {
+        Value::String { ref val, .. } => u32::from_str_radix(val, 16)
+            .ok()
+            .and_then(std::char::from_u32),
+        Value::Int { val, .. } => val.try_into().ok().and_then(std::char::from_u32),
+        _ => return Err(ShellError::TypeMismatch("string or int".to_owned(), *t)),
+    };
 
     if let Some(ch) = decoded_char {
         Ok(ch)