diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/DB2Dialect.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/DB2Dialect.java
index 5222556dfb..6fae4d0773 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/DB2Dialect.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/DB2Dialect.java
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ public class DB2Dialect extends Dialect {
 		registerColumnType( Types.SMALLINT, "smallint" );
 		registerColumnType( Types.TINYINT, "smallint" );
 		registerColumnType( Types.INTEGER, "integer" );
-		registerColumnType( Types.CHAR, "char(1)" );
+		registerColumnType( Types.CHAR, "varchar($l)" );
+		registerColumnType( Types.CHAR, 254, "char($l)" );
 		registerColumnType( Types.VARCHAR, "varchar($l)" );
 		registerColumnType( Types.FLOAT, "float" );
 		registerColumnType( Types.DOUBLE, "double" );
@@ -64,7 +65,8 @@ public class DB2Dialect extends Dialect {
 		registerColumnType( Types.CLOB, "clob($l)" );
 		registerColumnType( Types.LONGVARCHAR, "long varchar" );
 		registerColumnType( Types.LONGVARBINARY, "long varchar for bit data" );
-		registerColumnType( Types.BINARY, "char($l) for bit data" );
+		registerColumnType( Types.BINARY, "varchar($l) for bit data" );
+		registerColumnType( Types.BINARY, 254, "char($l) for bit data" );
 		registerColumnType( Types.BOOLEAN, "smallint" );
 
 		registerFunction( "avg", new AvgWithArgumentCastFunction( "double" ) );
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/dialect/DB2DialectTestCase.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/dialect/DB2DialectTestCase.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6255444269
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/dialect/DB2DialectTestCase.java
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+/*
+ * Hibernate, Relational Persistence for Idiomatic Java
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2011, Red Hat Inc. or third-party contributors as
+ * indicated by the @author tags or express copyright attribution
+ * statements applied by the authors.  All third-party contributions are
+ * distributed under license by Red Hat Inc..
+ *
+ * This copyrighted material is made available to anyone wishing to use, modify,
+ * copy, or redistribute it subject to the terms and conditions of the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License, as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
+ * or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with this distribution; if not, write to:
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+ * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor
+ * Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
+ */
+package org.hibernate.dialect;
+
+import java.sql.Types;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import org.hibernate.mapping.Column;
+import org.hibernate.testing.TestForIssue;
+import org.hibernate.testing.junit4.BaseUnitTestCase;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+
+/**
+ * DB2 dialect related test cases
+ *
+ * @author Hardy Ferentschik
+ */
+
+public class DB2DialectTestCase extends BaseUnitTestCase {
+	private final DB2Dialect dialect = new DB2Dialect();
+
+	@Test
+	@TestForIssue(jiraKey = "HHH-6866")
+	public void testGetDefaultBinaryTypeName() {
+		String actual = dialect.getTypeName( Types.BINARY );
+		assertEquals(
+				"The default column length is 255, but char length on DB2 is limited to 254",
+				"varchar($l) for bit data",
+				actual
+		);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	@TestForIssue(jiraKey = "HHH-6866")
+	public void testGetExplicitBinaryTypeName() {
+		// lower bound
+		String actual = dialect.getTypeName( Types.BINARY, 1, Column.DEFAULT_PRECISION, Column.DEFAULT_SCALE );
+		assertEquals(
+				"Wrong binary type",
+				"char(1) for bit data",
+				actual
+		);
+
+		// upper bound
+		actual = dialect.getTypeName( Types.BINARY, 254, Column.DEFAULT_PRECISION, Column.DEFAULT_SCALE );
+		assertEquals(
+				"Wrong binary type. 254 is the max length in DB2",
+				"char(254) for bit data",
+				actual
+		);
+
+		// exceeding upper bound
+		actual = dialect.getTypeName( Types.BINARY, 255, Column.DEFAULT_PRECISION, Column.DEFAULT_SCALE );
+		assertEquals(
+				"Wrong binary type. Should be varchar for length > 254",
+				"varchar(255) for bit data",
+				actual
+		);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	@TestForIssue(jiraKey = "HHH-6866")
+	public void testGetDefaultCharTypeName() {
+		String actual = dialect.getTypeName( Types.CHAR );
+		assertEquals(
+				"The default column length is 255, but char length on DB2 is limited to 254",
+				"varchar($l)",
+				actual
+		);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	@TestForIssue(jiraKey = "HHH-6866")
+	public void testGetExplicitCharTypeName() {
+		// lower bound
+		String actual = dialect.getTypeName( Types.CHAR, 1, Column.DEFAULT_PRECISION, Column.DEFAULT_SCALE );
+		assertEquals(
+				"Wrong char type",
+				"char(1)",
+				actual
+		);
+
+		// upper bound
+		actual = dialect.getTypeName( Types.CHAR, 254, Column.DEFAULT_PRECISION, Column.DEFAULT_SCALE );
+		assertEquals(
+				"Wrong char type. 254 is the max length in DB2",
+				"char(254)",
+				actual
+		);
+
+		// exceeding upper bound
+		actual = dialect.getTypeName( Types.CHAR, 255, Column.DEFAULT_PRECISION, Column.DEFAULT_SCALE );
+		assertEquals(
+				"Wrong char type. Should be varchar for length > 254",
+				"varchar(255)",
+				actual
+		);
+	}
+}