diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/process/internal/InferredBasicValueResolver.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/process/internal/InferredBasicValueResolver.java
index e3dca601d6..d7c67360db 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/process/internal/InferredBasicValueResolver.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/process/internal/InferredBasicValueResolver.java
@@ -384,11 +384,12 @@ public class InferredBasicValueResolver {
 		if ( stdIndicators.getEnumeratedType() == EnumType.STRING ) {
 			// JPA says only String is valid here
 			// todo (7.0) : support char/Character as well
-			if ( !String.class.equals( fieldType ) ) {
+			if ( !String.class.equals( fieldType )
+					&& !char.class.equals( fieldType ) ) {
 				throw new MappingException(
 						String.format(
 								Locale.ROOT,
-								"@EnumeratedValue for EnumType.STRING must be placed on a field whose type is String: %s.%s",
+								"@EnumeratedValue for EnumType.STRING must be placed on a field whose type is String or char: %s.%s",
 								enumeratedValueField.getDeclaringClass().getName(),
 								enumeratedValueField.getName()
 						)
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/mapping/enumeratedvalue/CharEnumerateValueTests.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/mapping/enumeratedvalue/CharEnumerateValueTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d0e9a375fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/mapping/enumeratedvalue/CharEnumerateValueTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+/*
+ * Hibernate, Relational Persistence for Idiomatic Java
+ *
+ * License: GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), version 2.1 or later.
+ * See the lgpl.txt file in the root directory or http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html.
+ */
+package org.hibernate.orm.test.mapping.enumeratedvalue;
+
+import java.sql.PreparedStatement;
+import java.sql.ResultSet;
+import java.sql.SQLException;
+import java.sql.Statement;
+
+import org.hibernate.annotations.JdbcTypeCode;
+import org.hibernate.orm.test.mapping.converted.enums.ConvertedEnumCheckConstraintsTests;
+import org.hibernate.type.SqlTypes;
+
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.DomainModel;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.SessionFactory;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.SessionFactoryScope;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import jakarta.persistence.Column;
+import jakarta.persistence.Convert;
+import jakarta.persistence.Entity;
+import jakarta.persistence.EnumType;
+import jakarta.persistence.Enumerated;
+import jakarta.persistence.EnumeratedValue;
+import jakarta.persistence.Id;
+import jakarta.persistence.Table;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.fail;
+
+/**
+ * The spec says that for {@linkplain jakarta.persistence.EnumType#STRING}, only {@linkplain String}
+ * is supported.  But {@code char} / {@linkplain Character} make a lot of sense to support as well
+ *
+ * @author Steve Ebersole
+ */
+@SuppressWarnings("JUnitMalformedDeclaration")
+public class CharEnumerateValueTests {
+	@Test
+	@DomainModel(annotatedClasses = Person.class)
+	@SessionFactory
+	void testBasicUsage(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction( (session) -> {
+			session.persist( new Person( 1, "John", Gender.MALE ) );
+		} );
+
+		scope.inTransaction( (session) -> {
+			session.doWork( (connection) -> {
+				try (Statement statement = connection.createStatement()) {
+					try (ResultSet resultSet = statement.executeQuery( "select gender from persons" )) {
+						assertThat( resultSet.next() ).isTrue();
+						final String storedGender = resultSet.getString( 1 );
+						assertThat( storedGender ).isEqualTo( "M" );
+					}
+				}
+			} );
+		} );
+	}
+
+	@DomainModel(annotatedClasses = Person.class)
+	@SessionFactory(useCollectingStatementInspector = true)
+	@Test
+	void testNulls(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction( (session) -> {
+			session.persist( new Person( 1, "John", null ) );
+		} );
+
+		scope.inTransaction( (session) -> {
+			session.doWork( (connection) -> {
+				try (Statement statement = connection.createStatement()) {
+					try (ResultSet resultSet = statement.executeQuery( "select gender from persons" )) {
+						assertThat( resultSet.next() ).isTrue();
+						final String storedGender = resultSet.getString( 1 );
+						assertThat( resultSet.wasNull() ).isTrue();
+						assertThat( storedGender ).isNull();
+					}
+				}
+			} );
+		} );
+	}
+
+	@DomainModel(annotatedClasses = Person.class)
+	@SessionFactory(useCollectingStatementInspector = true)
+	@Test
+	void verifyCheckConstraints(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction( (session) -> session.doWork( (connection) -> {
+			try (PreparedStatement statement = connection.prepareStatement( "insert into persons (id, gender) values (?, ?)" ) ) {
+				statement.setInt( 1, 100 );
+				// this would work without check constraints or with check constraints based solely on EnumType#STRING
+				statement.setString( 2, "MALE" );
+				statement.executeUpdate();
+				fail( "Expecting a failure" );
+			}
+			catch (SQLException expected) {
+			}
+		} ) );
+	}
+
+	@AfterEach
+	void dropTestData(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction( (session) -> session.createMutationQuery( "delete Person" ).executeUpdate() );
+	}
+
+	public enum Gender {
+		MALE( 'M' ),
+		FEMALE( 'F' ),
+		OTHER( 'U' );
+
+		@EnumeratedValue
+		private final char code;
+
+		Gender(char code) {
+			this.code = code;
+		}
+
+		public char getCode() {
+			return code;
+		}
+	}
+
+	@SuppressWarnings({ "FieldCanBeLocal", "unused" })
+	@Entity(name="Person")
+	@Table(name="persons")
+	public static class Person {
+		@Id
+		private Integer id;
+		private String name;
+		@Enumerated(EnumType.STRING)
+		@JdbcTypeCode(SqlTypes.CHAR)
+		@Column(length = 1)
+		private Gender gender;
+
+		public Person() {
+		}
+
+		public Person(Integer id, String name, Gender gender) {
+			this.id = id;
+			this.name = name;
+			this.gender = gender;
+		}
+	}
+}