diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 0c199e5..940a2f2 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -6,32 +6,41 @@ use syn::{Attribute, DeriveInput, Expr, Ident, Lit, Meta, parse_macro_input};
 use std::fs;
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 
-#[proc_macro_derive(Embed, attributes(dir))]
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
+enum EmbedMode {
+    Bytes,
+    Str,
+}
+
+#[proc_macro_derive(Embed, attributes(dir,mode))]
 pub fn embed(input: proc_macro::TokenStream) -> proc_macro::TokenStream {
     let input = parse_macro_input!(input as DeriveInput);
 
     let struct_name = &input.ident;
 
-    let attr = input
+    let dir_attr = input
         .attrs
         .iter()
         .find(|e| e.path().is_ident("dir"))
         .expect("No #[dir = \"...\"] attribute found");
 
-    let base_path = PathBuf::from(extract_dir_path(attr));
+    let mode_attr = input.attrs.iter().find(|e| e.path().is_ident("mode"));
+
+    let mode = mode_attr.map(extract_mode).unwrap_or(EmbedMode::Bytes);
+
+    let base_path = PathBuf::from(extract_dir_path(dir_attr));
     let source_file = PathBuf::from(input.span().unwrap().file());
 
     let source_dir = if let Some(parent) = source_file.parent() {
         parent
     } else {
         // HACK: when running in rust-analyzer i can't seem to get the parent dir.
-        return TokenStream::from(generate_impl(struct_name, Vec::new(), Vec::new()));
+        return TokenStream::from(generate_byte_impl(struct_name, Vec::new()));
     };
 
     let absolue_path = source_dir.join(&base_path);
 
     let mut match_arms = Vec::new();
-    let mut entries = Vec::new();
 
     for entry in collect_files(&absolue_path) {
         let rel_path = entry
@@ -42,18 +51,20 @@ pub fn embed(input: proc_macro::TokenStream) -> proc_macro::TokenStream {
             .replace("\\", "/");
 
         let include_path = base_path.join(&rel_path);
-        let include_string = include_path.to_str();
+        let include_string = include_path.to_str().unwrap();
 
-        match_arms.push(quote! {
-            #rel_path => Some(include_bytes!(#include_string) as &'static [u8]),
-        });
+        let arm = match mode {
+            EmbedMode::Bytes => generate_byte_arm(&rel_path, include_string),
+            EmbedMode::Str => generate_str_arm(&rel_path, include_string),
+        };
 
-        entries.push(quote! {
-            (#rel_path, include_bytes!(#include_string) as &'static [u8])
-        });
+        match_arms.push(arm);
     }
 
-    let expanded = generate_impl(struct_name, match_arms, entries);
+    let expanded = match mode {
+        EmbedMode::Bytes => generate_byte_impl(struct_name, match_arms),
+        EmbedMode::Str => generate_str_impl(struct_name, match_arms),
+    };
 
     proc_macro::TokenStream::from(expanded)
 }
@@ -88,10 +99,36 @@ fn extract_dir_path(attr: &Attribute) -> String {
     }
 }
 
-fn generate_impl(
+fn extract_mode(attr: &Attribute) -> EmbedMode {
+    let meta = match &attr.meta {
+        Meta::NameValue(meta) => meta,
+        _ => panic!("Expected #[mode = \"bytes\"|\"str\"] as a name-value attribute."),
+    };
+
+    let expr_lit = match &meta.value {
+        Expr::Lit(expr_lit) => expr_lit,
+        _ => panic!("Expected #[mode = \"bytes\"|\"str\"] with a string literal."),
+    };
+
+    match &expr_lit.lit {
+        Lit::Str(str) => match str.value().as_str() {
+            "bytes" => EmbedMode::Bytes,
+            "str" => EmbedMode::Str,
+            other => panic!("Unknown mode: {other}. Use `bytes` or `str`."),
+        },
+        _ => panic!("Expected #[mode = \"bytes\"|\"str\"] to be a string."),
+    }
+}
+
+fn generate_byte_arm(rel: &str, include: &str) -> proc_macro2::TokenStream {
+    quote! {
+        #rel => Some(include_bytes!(#include)),
+    }
+}
+
+fn generate_byte_impl(
     struct_name: &Ident,
     match_arms: Vec<proc_macro2::TokenStream>,
-    entries: Vec<proc_macro2::TokenStream>,
 ) -> proc_macro2::TokenStream {
     quote! {
         impl #struct_name {
@@ -101,9 +138,27 @@ fn generate_impl(
                     _ => None,
                 }
             }
+        }
+    }
+}
 
-            pub fn iter() -> impl Iterator<Item = (&'static str, &'static [u8])> {
-                [#(#entries),*].into_iter()
+fn generate_str_arm(rel: &str, include: &str) -> proc_macro2::TokenStream {
+    quote! {
+        #rel => Some(include_str!(#include)),
+    }
+}
+
+fn generate_str_impl(
+    struct_name: &Ident,
+    match_arms: Vec<proc_macro2::TokenStream>,
+) -> proc_macro2::TokenStream {
+    quote! {
+        impl #struct_name {
+            pub fn get(name: &str) -> Option<&'static str> {
+                match name {
+                    #(#match_arms)*
+                    _ => None,
+                }
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/tests/basic.rs b/tests/byte.rs
similarity index 81%
rename from tests/basic.rs
rename to tests/byte.rs
index d890650..2c4cfd7 100644
--- a/tests/basic.rs
+++ b/tests/byte.rs
@@ -2,27 +2,28 @@ use dir_embed::Embed;
 
 #[derive(Embed)]
 #[dir = "./../testdata/"]
+#[mode = "bytes"]
 pub struct Assets;
 
 #[test]
-fn get() {
+fn byte_get() {
     assert!(Assets::get("file1.txt").is_some());
 }
 
 #[test]
-fn get_missing() {
+fn byte_get_missing() {
     assert!(Assets::get("missing.txt").is_none());
 }
 
 #[test]
-fn read_content() {
+fn byte_read_content() {
     let content_should = "file1".as_bytes();
     let content_is = Assets::get("file1.txt").unwrap();
     assert_eq!(*content_is, *content_should);
 }
 
 #[test]
-fn parse_string() {
+fn byte_parse_string() {
     let file: &[u8] = Assets::get("file1.txt").expect("Can't find file");
 
     let string = str::from_utf8(file).expect("Failed to parse file");
@@ -31,14 +32,13 @@ fn parse_string() {
 }
 
 #[test]
-fn sub_directories_get() {
+fn byte_sub_directories_get() {
     assert!(Assets::get("sub/file2.txt").is_some());
 }
 
 #[test]
-fn sub_directories_content() {
+fn byte_sub_directories_content() {
     let content_should = "file2".as_bytes();
     let content_is = Assets::get("sub/file2.txt").unwrap();
     assert_eq!(*content_is, *content_should);
 }
-