diff --git a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/docs/plugins/gst_plugins_cache.json b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/docs/plugins/gst_plugins_cache.json
index 5a4b6944dd..df2b8b694c 100644
--- a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/docs/plugins/gst_plugins_cache.json
+++ b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/docs/plugins/gst_plugins_cache.json
@@ -256415,6 +256415,18 @@
                         "type": "gboolean",
                         "writable": true
                     },
+                    "binary": {
+                        "blurb": "Enable or disable binary QR codes, where binary data is not converted to text",
+                        "conditionally-available": false,
+                        "construct": false,
+                        "construct-only": false,
+                        "controllable": false,
+                        "default": "false",
+                        "mutable": "null",
+                        "readable": true,
+                        "type": "gboolean",
+                        "writable": true
+                    },
                     "cache": {
                         "blurb": "Enable or disable the inter-image result cache",
                         "conditionally-available": false,
diff --git a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/gstzbar.c b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/gstzbar.c
index 89843cae34..ebc0ad0c58 100644
--- a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/gstzbar.c
+++ b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/gstzbar.c
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@
 
 #include <gst/video/video.h>
 
-
 GST_DEBUG_CATEGORY_STATIC (zbar_debug);
 #define GST_CAT_DEFAULT zbar_debug
 
@@ -73,12 +72,14 @@ enum
   PROP_0,
   PROP_MESSAGE,
   PROP_ATTACH_FRAME,
-  PROP_CACHE
+  PROP_CACHE,
+  PROP_BINARY
 };
 
 #define DEFAULT_CACHE    FALSE
 #define DEFAULT_MESSAGE  TRUE
 #define DEFAULT_ATTACH_FRAME FALSE
+#define DEFAULT_BINARY FALSE
 
 #define ZBAR_YUV_CAPS \
     "{ Y800, I420, YV12, NV12, NV21, Y41B, Y42B, YUV9, YVU9 }"
@@ -156,6 +157,18 @@ gst_zbar_class_init (GstZBarClass * g_class)
           G_PARAM_READWRITE | GST_PARAM_MUTABLE_READY |
           G_PARAM_STATIC_STRINGS));
 
+  /**
+   * zbar:binary:
+   *
+   * Enable or disable binary QR codes, where binary data is not converted to text.
+   *
+   * Since: 1.26
+   */
+  g_object_class_install_property (gobject_class, PROP_BINARY,
+      g_param_spec_boolean ("binary", "binary",
+          "Enable or disable binary QR codes, where binary data is not converted to text",
+          DEFAULT_BINARY, G_PARAM_READWRITE | G_PARAM_STATIC_STRINGS));
+
   gst_element_class_set_static_metadata (gstelement_class, "Barcode detector",
       "Filter/Analyzer/Video",
       "Detect bar codes in the video streams",
@@ -179,6 +192,7 @@ gst_zbar_init (GstZBar * zbar)
   zbar->cache = DEFAULT_CACHE;
   zbar->message = DEFAULT_MESSAGE;
   zbar->attach_frame = DEFAULT_ATTACH_FRAME;
+  zbar->binary = DEFAULT_BINARY;
 
   zbar->scanner = zbar_image_scanner_create ();
 }
@@ -212,6 +226,9 @@ gst_zbar_set_property (GObject * object, guint prop_id, const GValue * value,
     case PROP_ATTACH_FRAME:
       zbar->attach_frame = g_value_get_boolean (value);
       break;
+    case PROP_BINARY:
+      zbar->binary = g_value_get_boolean (value);
+      break;
     default:
       G_OBJECT_WARN_INVALID_PROPERTY_ID (object, prop_id, pspec);
       break;
@@ -237,6 +254,9 @@ gst_zbar_get_property (GObject * object, guint prop_id, GValue * value,
     case PROP_ATTACH_FRAME:
       g_value_set_boolean (value, zbar->attach_frame);
       break;
+    case PROP_BINARY:
+      g_value_set_boolean (value, zbar->binary);
+      break;
     default:
       G_OBJECT_WARN_INVALID_PROPERTY_ID (object, prop_id, pspec);
       break;
@@ -345,6 +365,9 @@ gst_zbar_start (GstBaseTransform * base)
 
   /* start the cache if enabled (e.g. for filtering dupes) */
   zbar_image_scanner_enable_cache (zbar->scanner, zbar->cache);
+  /* use binary mode if enabled */
+  zbar_image_scanner_set_config (zbar->scanner, 0, ZBAR_CFG_BINARY,
+      zbar->binary);
 
   return TRUE;
 }
diff --git a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/gstzbar.h b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/gstzbar.h
index 5bee7455de..b49f9e3550 100644
--- a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/gstzbar.h
+++ b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/gstzbar.h
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ struct _GstZBar
   gboolean message;
   gboolean attach_frame;
   gboolean cache;
+  gboolean binary;
 
   /* internals */
   zbar_image_scanner_t *scanner;
diff --git a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/meson.build b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/meson.build
index 678c10a75c..1f8aca4553 100644
--- a/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/meson.build
+++ b/subprojects/gst-plugins-bad/ext/zbar/meson.build
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-zbar_dep = dependency('zbar', version : '>= 0.9', required : get_option('zbar'))
+zbar_dep = dependency('zbar', version : '>= 0.23.1', required : get_option('zbar'))
 
 zbar_sources = [
   'gstzbar.c',