diff --git a/py/objfloat.c b/py/objfloat.c
index 743287be63..75212a4d22 100644
--- a/py/objfloat.c
+++ b/py/objfloat.c
@@ -137,12 +137,11 @@ STATIC mp_obj_t float_make_new(const mp_obj_type_t *type_in, size_t n_args, size
             return mp_obj_new_float(0);
 
         case 1:
-        default:
-            if (MP_OBJ_IS_STR(args[0])) {
-                // a string, parse it
-                size_t l;
-                const char *s = mp_obj_str_get_data(args[0], &l);
-                return mp_parse_num_decimal(s, l, false, false, NULL);
+        default: {
+            mp_buffer_info_t bufinfo;
+            if (mp_get_buffer(args[0], &bufinfo, MP_BUFFER_READ)) {
+                // a textual representation, parse it
+                return mp_parse_num_decimal(bufinfo.buf, bufinfo.len, false, false, NULL);
             } else if (mp_obj_is_float(args[0])) {
                 // a float, just return it
                 return args[0];
@@ -150,6 +149,7 @@ STATIC mp_obj_t float_make_new(const mp_obj_type_t *type_in, size_t n_args, size
                 // something else, try to cast it to a float
                 return mp_obj_new_float(mp_obj_get_float(args[0]));
             }
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/float/float1.py b/tests/float/float1.py
index c64f965a7d..54807e5ac9 100644
--- a/tests/float/float1.py
+++ b/tests/float/float1.py
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ try:
 except ValueError:
     print("ValueError")
 
+# construct from something with the buffer protocol
+print(float(b"1.2"))
+print(float(bytearray(b"3.4")))
+
 # unary operators
 print(bool(0.0))
 print(bool(1.2))