diff --git a/Handler/Shared.hs b/Handler/Shared.hs
index 89967a0..bc13f9b 100644
--- a/Handler/Shared.hs
+++ b/Handler/Shared.hs
@@ -104,12 +104,13 @@ cloneRepo url branch chan = do
                 repoId <- runDB $ insert $ Repo {
                   repoUrl=url,
                   repoBranch=branch,
-                  repoCurrentCommit=(toSHA1 (encodeUtf8 commitId)),
+                  repoCurrentCommit=commitRaw,
                   repoOwner=userId,
                   repoReady=True,
                   repoStamp=time }
                 return $ Just repoId
                 where commitId = T.replace "\n" "" out
+                      commitRaw = fromTextToSHA1 commitId
               ExitFailure _ -> do
                 err chan "cannot determine HEAD commit"
                 return Nothing
@@ -120,34 +121,6 @@ cloneRepo url branch chan = do
         err chan $ concat ["Wrong URL to a Git repo (note that one of the following protocols must be specified: ", validGitProtocolsAsText]
         return Nothing
 
-hexByteToWord8 :: Text -> Word8
-hexByteToWord8 t = (hexNibbleToWord8 $ T.head t) * 16 + (hexNibbleToWord8 $ T.index t 1)
-
-hexNibbleToWord8 :: Char -> Word8
-hexNibbleToWord8 '0' = 0
-hexNibbleToWord8 '1' = 1
-hexNibbleToWord8 '2' = 2
-hexNibbleToWord8 '3' = 3
-hexNibbleToWord8 '4' = 4
-hexNibbleToWord8 '5' = 5
-hexNibbleToWord8 '6' = 6
-hexNibbleToWord8 '7' = 7
-hexNibbleToWord8 '8' = 8
-hexNibbleToWord8 '9' = 9
-hexNibbleToWord8 'A' = 10
-hexNibbleToWord8 'a' = 10
-hexNibbleToWord8 'B' = 11
-hexNibbleToWord8 'b' = 11
-hexNibbleToWord8 'C' = 12
-hexNibbleToWord8 'c' = 12
-hexNibbleToWord8 'D' = 13
-hexNibbleToWord8 'd' = 13
-hexNibbleToWord8 'E' = 14
-hexNibbleToWord8 'e' = 14
-hexNibbleToWord8 'F' = 15
-hexNibbleToWord8 'f' = 15
-
-
 checkRepoUrl :: Text -> Bool
 checkRepoUrl url = case parsedURI of
                       Just uri -> (uriScheme uri) `elem` (map (++":") validGitProtocols)
diff --git a/PersistSHA1.hs b/PersistSHA1.hs
index 4c2c73f..d5f28fc 100644
--- a/PersistSHA1.hs
+++ b/PersistSHA1.hs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import Database.Persist.Sql
 
 import qualified Data.ByteString as B
 import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as BC
+import qualified Data.Text as T
 import Numeric (showHex)
 
 data SHA1 = SHA1 ByteString
@@ -16,11 +17,42 @@ toHex = BC.pack . concat . (map ("\\x"++)) . (map (flip showHex "")) . B.unpack
 toSHA1 :: ByteString -> SHA1
 toSHA1 x = SHA1 $ B.concat ["E'\\\\x", x, "'"]
 
-instance PersistField SHA1 where
-  toPersistValue (SHA1 t) = PersistDbSpecific t
+fromTextToSHA1 :: Text -> SHA1
+fromTextToSHA1 = SHA1 . B.pack . (map hexByteToWord8) . (T.chunksOf 2)
 
-  fromPersistValue (PersistDbSpecific t) = Right $ SHA1 t
-  fromPersistValue _ = Left "SHA1 values must be converted from PersistDbSpecific"
+hexByteToWord8 :: Text -> Word8
+hexByteToWord8 t = (hexNibbleToWord8 $ T.head t) * 16 + (hexNibbleToWord8 $ T.index t 1)
+
+hexNibbleToWord8 :: Char -> Word8
+hexNibbleToWord8 '0' = 0
+hexNibbleToWord8 '1' = 1
+hexNibbleToWord8 '2' = 2
+hexNibbleToWord8 '3' = 3
+hexNibbleToWord8 '4' = 4
+hexNibbleToWord8 '5' = 5
+hexNibbleToWord8 '6' = 6
+hexNibbleToWord8 '7' = 7
+hexNibbleToWord8 '8' = 8
+hexNibbleToWord8 '9' = 9
+hexNibbleToWord8 'A' = 10
+hexNibbleToWord8 'a' = 10
+hexNibbleToWord8 'B' = 11
+hexNibbleToWord8 'b' = 11
+hexNibbleToWord8 'C' = 12
+hexNibbleToWord8 'c' = 12
+hexNibbleToWord8 'D' = 13
+hexNibbleToWord8 'd' = 13
+hexNibbleToWord8 'E' = 14
+hexNibbleToWord8 'e' = 14
+hexNibbleToWord8 'F' = 15
+hexNibbleToWord8 'f' = 15
+
+
+instance PersistField SHA1 where
+  toPersistValue (SHA1 t) = PersistByteString t
+
+  fromPersistValue (PersistByteString t) = Right $ SHA1 t
+  fromPersistValue _ = Left "Unexpected value"
 
 instance PersistFieldSql SHA1 where
-  sqlType _ = SqlOther "BYTEA"
+  sqlType _ = SqlBlob