diff --git a/pkgs/base/info.rkt b/pkgs/base/info.rkt
index 09595302b6..c7109701fa 100644
--- a/pkgs/base/info.rkt
+++ b/pkgs/base/info.rkt
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 (define collection 'multi)
 
-(define version "6.12.0.1")
+(define version "6.12.0.2")
 
 (define deps `("racket-lib"
                ["racket" #:version ,version]))
diff --git a/pkgs/racket-doc/scribblings/foreign/pointers.scrbl b/pkgs/racket-doc/scribblings/foreign/pointers.scrbl
index 6f633c6433..409b744f2a 100644
--- a/pkgs/racket-doc/scribblings/foreign/pointers.scrbl
+++ b/pkgs/racket-doc/scribblings/foreign/pointers.scrbl
@@ -394,12 +394,13 @@ procedure would then not close over @racket[b].)}
          bytes?]{
 
 Returns a byte string made of the given pointer and the given length.
-No copying is done.  This can be used as an alternative to make
-pointer values accessible in Racket when the size is known.
+No copying is performed. Beware that future implementations of Racket
+may not support this function (in case of a byte string representation
+that combines a size and byte-string content without an indirection).
 
-Beware that the representation of a Racket byte string normally
+Beware also that the representation of a Racket byte string normally
 requires a nul terminator at the end of the byte string (after
-@racket[length] bytes), but some function work with a byte-string
+@racket[length] bytes), but some functions work with a byte-string
 representation that has no such terminator---notably
 @racket[bytes-copy].
 
diff --git a/pkgs/racket-doc/scribblings/foreign/types.scrbl b/pkgs/racket-doc/scribblings/foreign/types.scrbl
index 4ed4fdbb73..b75078c6cc 100644
--- a/pkgs/racket-doc/scribblings/foreign/types.scrbl
+++ b/pkgs/racket-doc/scribblings/foreign/types.scrbl
@@ -264,21 +264,16 @@ inputs.}
 
 @subsection{Primitive String Types}
 
-The five primitive string types correspond to cases where a C
-representation matches Racket's representation without encodings.
-
-The form @racket[_bytes] form can be used type for Racket byte
-strings, which corresponds to C's @cpp{char*} type.  In addition to
-translating byte strings, @racket[#f] corresponds to the @cpp{NULL}
-pointer.
+See also @racket[_bytes/nul-terminator] and @racket[_bytes] for
+converting between byte strings and C's @cpp{char*} type.
 
 @deftogether[(
 @defthing[_string/ucs-4 ctype?]
 )]{
 
 A type for Racket's native Unicode strings, which are in UCS-4 format.
-These correspond to the C @cpp{mzchar*} type used by Racket. As usual, the types
-treat @racket[#f] as @cpp{NULL} and vice versa.}
+These correspond to the C @cpp{mzchar*} type used by Racket's C API.
+As usual, the type treats @racket[#f] as @cpp{NULL} and vice versa.}
 
 
 @deftogether[(
@@ -291,8 +286,9 @@ Unicode strings in UTF-16 format. As usual, the types treat
 
 @defthing[_path ctype?]{
 
-Simple @cpp{char*} strings, corresponding to Racket's paths. As usual,
-the types treat @racket[#f] as @cpp{NULL} and vice versa.
+Simple @cpp{char*} strings, corresponding to Racket's @tech[#:doc
+reference.scrbl]{path or string}. As usual, the type treats
+@racket[#f] as @cpp{NULL} and vice versa.
 
 Beware that changing the current directory via
 @racket[current-directory] does not change the OS-level current
@@ -331,7 +327,7 @@ Racket paths are converted using @racket[path->bytes].}
 @subsection{Variable Auto-Converting String Type}
 
 The @racket[_string/ucs-4] type is rarely useful when interacting with
-foreign code, while using @racket[_bytes] is somewhat unnatural, since
+foreign code, while using @racket[_bytes/nul-terminator] is somewhat unnatural, since
 it forces Racket programmers to use byte strings. Using
 @racket[_string/utf-8], etc., meanwhile, may prematurely commit to a
 particular encoding of strings as bytes. The @racket[_string] type
@@ -1083,13 +1079,55 @@ See @racket[_list] for more explanation about the examples.}
           [_bytes
            (_bytes o len-expr)]]{
 
-A @tech{custom function type} that can be used by itself as a simple
-type for a byte string as a C pointer. Coercion of a C pointer to
-simply @racket[_bytes] (without a specified length) requires that the pointer
-refers to a nul-terminated byte string. When the length-specifying form is used
-for a function argument, a byte string is allocated with the given
-length, including an extra byte for the nul terminator.}
+The @racket[_bytes] form by itself corresponds to C's @cpp{char*}
+type; a byte string is passed as @racket[_bytes] without any
+copying. In the current Racket implementation, a Racket byte string is
+normally nul terminated implicitly, but a future implementation of
+Racket may not include an implicit nul terminator for byte strings.
+See also @racket[_bytes/nul-terminated].
 
+In the current Racket implementation, as @racket[_bytes] result, a C
+non-NULL @cpp{char*} is wrapped as a Racket byte string without
+copying; future Racket implementations may require copying to
+represent a C @cpp{char*} result as a Racket byte string. The C result
+must have a nul terminator to determine the Racket byte string's
+length.
+
+A @racket[(_bytes o len-expr)] form is a @tech{custom function type}.
+As an argument, a byte string is allocated with the given length; in
+the current Racket implementation, that byte string includes an extra
+byte for the nul terminator (but, again, a future Racket
+implementation may not behave that way). As a result, @racket[(_bytes
+o len-expr)] wraps a C non-NULL @cpp{char*} pointer as a byte string of
+the given length (but, again, a future Racket implementation may copy
+the indicated number of bytes to a fresh byte string).
+
+As usual, @racket[_bytes] treats @racket[#f] as @cpp{NULL} and vice
+versa. As a result type, @racket[(_bytes o len-expr)] works only for
+non-NULL results.}
+
+
+@defform*[#:id _bytes/nul-terminated
+          #:literals (o)
+          [_bytes/nul-terminated
+           (_bytes/nul-terminated o len-expr)]]{
+
+The @racket[_bytes/nul-terminated] type is like @racket[_bytes], but
+an explicit nul-terminator byte is added to a byte-string argument,
+which implies copying. As a result type, a @cpp{char*} is copied to a
+fresh byte string (without an explicit nul terminator).
+
+When @racket[(_bytes o len-expr)] is used as an argument type, a byte
+string of length @racket[len-expr] is allocated. Similarly, when
+@racket[(_bytes o len-expr)] is used as a result type, a @cpp{char*}
+result is copied to a fresh byte string of length @racket[len-expr].
+
+As usual, @racket[_bytes/nul-terminated] treats @racket[#f] as
+@cpp{NULL} and vice versa. As a result type,
+@racket[(_bytes/nul-terminated o len-expr)] works only for non-NULL
+results.
+
+@history[#:added "6.12.0.2"]}
 
 @; ------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/pkgs/racket-test-core/tests/racket/foreign-test.rktl b/pkgs/racket-test-core/tests/racket/foreign-test.rktl
index 47855876b1..e9aa8db307 100644
--- a/pkgs/racket-test-core/tests/racket/foreign-test.rktl
+++ b/pkgs/racket-test-core/tests/racket/foreign-test.rktl
@@ -532,6 +532,17 @@
   (ptr-set! v _pointer (ptr-add #f 107))
   (test 107 ptr-ref v _intptr))
 
+;; Test _bytes and _bytes/nul-terminated
+(let ([p (malloc 8)])
+  (memcpy p #"hi, all!" 8)
+  (test #"hi, all!" cast p _pointer _bytes)
+  (test #"hi, all!" cast p _pointer _bytes/nul-terminated))
+(let* ([strdup (get-ffi-obj 'strdup #f (_fun _bytes/nul-terminated -> _pointer))]
+       [p (strdup #"howdy...")])
+  (test #"howdy..." cast p _pointer _bytes)
+  (test #"howdy..." cast p _pointer _bytes/nul-terminated)
+  (free p))
+
 ;; Test equality and hashing of c pointers:
 (let ([seventeen1 (cast 17 _intptr _pointer)]
       [seventeen2 (cast 17 _intptr _pointer)]
diff --git a/racket/collects/ffi/unsafe.rkt b/racket/collects/ffi/unsafe.rkt
index 104c30501d..15d66cc93f 100644
--- a/racket/collects/ffi/unsafe.rkt
+++ b/racket/collects/ffi/unsafe.rkt
@@ -1069,6 +1069,24 @@
     [(_ . xs) (_bytes . xs)]
     [_ _bytes]))
 
+;; _bytes/nul-terminated copies and includes a nul terminator in a
+;; way that will be more consistent across Racket implementations
+(define _bytes/nul-terminated
+  (make-ctype _bytes
+              (lambda (bstr) (and bstr (bytes-append bstr #"\0")))
+              (lambda (bstr) (bytes-copy bstr))))
+(provide (rename-out [_bytes/nul-terminated* _bytes/nul-terminated]))
+(define-fun-syntax _bytes/nul-terminated*
+  (syntax-id-rules (o)
+    [(_ o n) (type: _pointer
+              pre:  (make-bytes n)
+              ;; post is needed when this is used as a function output type
+              post: (x => (let ([s (make-bytes n)])
+                            (memcpy s x n)
+                            s)))]
+    [(_ . xs) (_bytes/nul-teriminated . xs)]
+    [_ _bytes/nul-terminated]))
+
 ;; (_array <type> <len> ...+)
 (provide _array
          array? array-length array-ptr array-type
diff --git a/racket/src/racket/src/schvers.h b/racket/src/racket/src/schvers.h
index 591d9fe6b0..cb40efcd67 100644
--- a/racket/src/racket/src/schvers.h
+++ b/racket/src/racket/src/schvers.h
@@ -13,12 +13,12 @@
    consistently.)
 */
 
-#define MZSCHEME_VERSION "6.12.0.1"
+#define MZSCHEME_VERSION "6.12.0.2"
 
 #define MZSCHEME_VERSION_X 6
 #define MZSCHEME_VERSION_Y 12
 #define MZSCHEME_VERSION_Z 0
-#define MZSCHEME_VERSION_W 1
+#define MZSCHEME_VERSION_W 2
 
 #define MZSCHEME_VERSION_MAJOR ((MZSCHEME_VERSION_X * 100) + MZSCHEME_VERSION_Y)
 #define MZSCHEME_VERSION_MINOR ((MZSCHEME_VERSION_Z * 1000) + MZSCHEME_VERSION_W)