diff --git a/Sources/MySQLNIO/MySQLData.swift b/Sources/MySQLNIO/MySQLData.swift
index 0fef1c9..d6c0461 100644
--- a/Sources/MySQLNIO/MySQLData.swift
+++ b/Sources/MySQLNIO/MySQLData.swift
@@ -429,10 +429,16 @@ public struct MySQLData: CustomStringConvertible, ExpressibleByStringLiteral, Ex
         guard var buffer = self.buffer else {
             return nil
         }
-        switch self.type {
-        case .timestamp, .datetime, .date, .time:
-            return buffer.readMySQLTime()
-        default: return nil
+        switch self.format {
+        case .binary:
+            switch self.type {
+            case .timestamp, .datetime, .date, .time:
+                return buffer.readMySQLTime()
+            default: return nil
+            }
+        case .text:
+            guard let s = buffer.readString(length: buffer.readableBytes) else { return nil }
+            return MySQLTime(s)
         }
     }
     
diff --git a/Sources/MySQLNIO/MySQLTime.swift b/Sources/MySQLNIO/MySQLTime.swift
index d2303eb..985c9f4 100644
--- a/Sources/MySQLNIO/MySQLTime.swift
+++ b/Sources/MySQLNIO/MySQLTime.swift
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public struct MySQLTime: Equatable, MySQLDataConvertible {
         self.microsecond = microsecond
     }
     
-    /// Creates a new `MySQLTime` from a Swift Date using current calendar and GMT timezone.
+    /// Creates a new ``MySQLTime`` from a Swift ``Date`` using current calendar and GMT timezone.
     public init(date: Date) {
         // let comps = Calendar.current.dateComponents(in: .gmt, from: date)
         var rawtime = Int(date.timeIntervalSince1970)
@@ -71,6 +71,24 @@ public struct MySQLTime: Equatable, MySQLDataConvertible {
         )
     }
     
+    /// Parse a new ``MySQLTime`` from a ``String`` in `"yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss"` format.
+    public init?(_ string: String) {
+        let parts = string.split { c in
+            ":- ".contains(c)
+        }
+        guard parts.count >= 6,
+              let year = UInt16(parts[0]),
+              let month = UInt16(parts[1]),
+              let day = UInt16(parts[2]),
+              let hour = UInt16(parts[3]),
+              let minute = UInt16(parts[4]),
+              let second = UInt16(parts[5])
+        else {
+            return nil
+        }
+        self.init(year: year, month: month, day: day, hour: hour, minute: minute, second: second)
+    }
+    
     /// See ``MySQLDataConvertible/init(mysqlData:)``.
     public init?(mysqlData: MySQLData) {
         guard let time = mysqlData.time else {
diff --git a/Tests/MySQLNIOTests/MySQLNIOTests.swift b/Tests/MySQLNIOTests/MySQLNIOTests.swift
index a467975..5a52ddd 100644
--- a/Tests/MySQLNIOTests/MySQLNIOTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/MySQLNIOTests/MySQLNIOTests.swift
@@ -621,6 +621,16 @@ final class MySQLNIOTests: XCTestCase {
         XCTAssertEqual(time.date, nil)
     }
     
+    func testTextMySQLTimeParse() throws {
+        let conn = try MySQLConnection.test(on: self.eventLoop).wait()
+        defer { try! conn.close().wait() }
+        
+        // The text protocol returns timestamp columns in text format.
+        // Ensure these can be converted to MySQLTime without error.
+        let rows = try conn.simpleQuery("SELECT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP() AS foo").wait()
+        XCTAssertNotNil(rows[0].column("foo")?.time)
+    }
+    
     func testNull() throws {
         let conn = try MySQLConnection.test(on: self.eventLoop).wait()
         defer { try! conn.close().wait() }