diff --git a/Sources/SwiftSerial.swift b/Sources/SwiftSerial.swift
index 2236f05..4d7b04d 100644
--- a/Sources/SwiftSerial.swift
+++ b/Sources/SwiftSerial.swift
@@ -460,8 +460,23 @@ extension SerialPort {
                 let character = UnicodeScalar(buffer[0])
                 return character     
             }
-        }         
-
+        }
+    }
+    
+    public func readByte() throws -> UInt8 {
+        let buffer = UnsafeMutablePointer<UInt8>.allocate(capacity: 1)
+        
+        defer {
+            buffer.deallocate(capacity: 1)
+        }
+        
+        while true {
+            let bytesRead = try readBytes(into: buffer, size: 1)
+            
+            if bytesRead > 0 {
+                return buffer[0]
+            }
+        }
     }
 
 }