UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0x85 in position 1: invalid start byte after upgrade from 3.1.0 to 3.1.3

[drlatt]

This issue happens for Postgres tables with bytea column datatypes. Tables without a bytea column datatype are successfully queried. Querying the database via the psql CLI works but I get the error above when trying to query the database from the Superset UI.

Downgrading to version 3.1.1 or 3.1.0 solves the issue. The issue is present in the 3.1.2 and 3.1.3 superset versions.

Old superset version
3.1.0

New superset version
3.1.3

Expected results
Query result displays correctly

Actual result
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0x8c in position 1: invalid start byte

How to reproduce

• Upgrade to Superset version 3.1.3 and 3.1.2
• Query tables with bytea column data type