diff --git a/django/core/cache/backends/memcached.py b/django/core/cache/backends/memcached.py
index e254527cea..1e4e482b11 100644
--- a/django/core/cache/backends/memcached.py
+++ b/django/core/cache/backends/memcached.py
@@ -43,15 +43,9 @@ class CacheClass(BaseCache):
         val = self._cache.get(smart_str(key))
         if val is None:
             return default
-        else:
-            if isinstance(val, basestring):
-                return smart_unicode(val)
-            else:
-                return val
+        return val
 
     def set(self, key, value, timeout=0):
-        if isinstance(value, unicode):
-            value = value.encode('utf-8')
         self._cache.set(smart_str(key), value, self._get_memcache_timeout(timeout))
 
     def delete(self, key):
diff --git a/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py b/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py
index 9ed93e8750..109374c46c 100644
--- a/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py
+++ b/tests/regressiontests/cache/tests.py
@@ -295,6 +295,16 @@ class BaseCacheTests(object):
             self.cache.set(key, value)
             self.assertEqual(self.cache.get(key), value)
 
+    def test_binary_string(self):
+        # Binary strings should be cachable
+        from zlib import compress, decompress
+        value = 'value_to_be_compressed'
+        compressed_value = compress(value)
+        self.cache.set('binary1', compressed_value)
+        compressed_result = self.cache.get('binary1')
+        self.assertEqual(compressed_value, compressed_result)
+        self.assertEqual(value, decompress(compressed_result))
+
     def test_set_many(self):
         # Multiple keys can be set using set_many
         self.cache.set_many({"key1": "spam", "key2": "eggs"})