diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/Oracle8iDialect.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/Oracle8iDialect.java
index 3be6f5cc5c..5c02ac8086 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/Oracle8iDialect.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/Oracle8iDialect.java
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ import org.hibernate.sql.DecodeCaseFragment;
 import org.hibernate.sql.JoinFragment;
 import org.hibernate.sql.OracleJoinFragment;
 import org.hibernate.type.StandardBasicTypes;
+import org.hibernate.type.descriptor.sql.BitTypeDescriptor;
+import org.hibernate.type.descriptor.sql.SqlTypeDescriptor;
 
 /**
  * A dialect for Oracle 8i.
@@ -197,6 +199,11 @@ public class Oracle8iDialect extends Dialect {
 		getDefaultProperties().setProperty( Environment.USE_GET_GENERATED_KEYS, "false" );
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	protected SqlTypeDescriptor getSqlTypeDescriptorOverride(int sqlCode) {
+		return sqlCode == Types.BOOLEAN ? BitTypeDescriptor.INSTANCE : super.getSqlTypeDescriptorOverride( sqlCode );
+	}
+
 
 	// features which change between 8i, 9i, and 10g ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~