diff --git a/uuid.go b/uuid.go
index dc75cee..19f2e07 100644
--- a/uuid.go
+++ b/uuid.go
@@ -275,6 +275,13 @@ func (uuid UUID) String() string {
 	return string(buf[:])
 }
 
+// Bytes returns the bytes form of uuid, xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.
+func (uuid UUID) Bytes() []byte {
+	var buf [36]byte
+	encodeHex(buf[:], uuid)
+	return buf[:]
+}
+
 // URN returns the RFC 2141 URN form of uuid,
 // urn:uuid:xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx,  or "" if uuid is invalid.
 func (uuid UUID) URN() string {
diff --git a/uuid_test.go b/uuid_test.go
index 906ecbe..c06fc52 100644
--- a/uuid_test.go
+++ b/uuid_test.go
@@ -290,6 +290,9 @@ func TestCoding(t *testing.T) {
 	if v := data.String(); v != text {
 		t.Errorf("%x: encoded to %s, expected %s", data, v, text)
 	}
+	if bs := data.Bytes(); string(bs) != text {
+		t.Errorf("%x: encoded to %s, expected %s", data, string(bs), text)
+	}
 	if v := data.URN(); v != urn {
 		t.Errorf("%x: urn is %s, expected %s", data, v, urn)
 	}