diff --git a/cmd/kubeseal/main.go b/cmd/kubeseal/main.go
index 167fb3593..517300597 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeseal/main.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeseal/main.go
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ func seal(in io.Reader, out io.Writer, codecs runtimeserializer.CodecFactory, pu
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if len(secret.Data) == 0 {
+	if len(secret.Data) == 0 && len(secret.StringData) == 0 {
 		// No data. This is _theoretically_ just fine, but
 		// almost certainly indicates a misuse of the tools.
 		// If you _really_ want to encrypt an empty secret,
diff --git a/cmd/kubeseal/main_test.go b/cmd/kubeseal/main_test.go
index fcb30c5af..fee942659 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeseal/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeseal/main_test.go
@@ -133,6 +133,9 @@ func TestSeal(t *testing.T) {
 		Data: map[string][]byte{
 			"foo": []byte("sekret"),
 		},
+		StringData: map[string]string{
+			"foos": string("stringsekret"),
+		},
 	}
 
 	info, ok := runtime.SerializerInfoForMediaType(scheme.Codecs.SupportedMediaTypes(), runtime.ContentTypeJSON)
@@ -170,5 +173,8 @@ func TestSeal(t *testing.T) {
 	if len(result.Spec.EncryptedData["foo"]) < 100 {
 		t.Errorf("Encrypted data is implausibly short: %v", result.Spec.EncryptedData)
 	}
+	if len(result.Spec.EncryptedData["foos"]) < 100 {
+		t.Errorf("Encrypted data is implausibly short: %v", result.Spec.EncryptedData)
+	}
 	// NB: See sealedsecret_test.go for e2e crypto test
 }
diff --git a/pkg/apis/sealed-secrets/v1alpha1/sealedsecret_expansion.go b/pkg/apis/sealed-secrets/v1alpha1/sealedsecret_expansion.go
index 10f068439..5e4816020 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/sealed-secrets/v1alpha1/sealedsecret_expansion.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/sealed-secrets/v1alpha1/sealedsecret_expansion.go
@@ -115,6 +115,14 @@ func NewSealedSecret(codecs runtimeserializer.CodecFactory, pubKey *rsa.PublicKe
 		s.Spec.EncryptedData[key] = base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(ciphertext)
 	}
 
+	for key, value := range secret.StringData {
+		ciphertext, err := crypto.HybridEncrypt(rand.Reader, pubKey, []byte(value), label)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		s.Spec.EncryptedData[key] = base64.StdEncoding.EncodeToString(ciphertext)
+	}
+
 	if clusterWide {
 		if s.Annotations == nil {
 			s.Annotations = map[string]string{}
diff --git a/pkg/apis/sealed-secrets/v1alpha1/sealedsecret_test.go b/pkg/apis/sealed-secrets/v1alpha1/sealedsecret_test.go
index d6f4d4398..c8097b4ed 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/sealed-secrets/v1alpha1/sealedsecret_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/sealed-secrets/v1alpha1/sealedsecret_test.go
@@ -208,6 +208,59 @@ func TestSealRoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestSealRoundTripStringDataConversion(t *testing.T) {
+	scheme := runtime.NewScheme()
+	codecs := serializer.NewCodecFactory(scheme)
+
+	SchemeBuilder.AddToScheme(scheme)
+	v1.SchemeBuilder.AddToScheme(scheme)
+
+	rand := testRand()
+	key, err := rsa.GenerateKey(rand, 2048)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Failed to generate test key: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	secret := v1.Secret{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      "myname",
+			Namespace: "myns",
+		},
+		Data: map[string][]byte{
+			"foo": []byte("bar"),
+			"fss": []byte("brr"),
+		},
+		StringData: map[string]string{
+			"fss": "baa",
+		},
+	}
+
+	unsealed := v1.Secret{
+		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+			Name:      "myname",
+			Namespace: "myns",
+		},
+		Data: map[string][]byte{
+			"foo": []byte("bar"),
+			"fss": []byte("baa"),
+		},
+	}
+
+	ssecret, err := NewSealedSecret(codecs, &key.PublicKey, &secret)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("NewSealedSecret returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	secret2, err := ssecret.Unseal(codecs, key)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Unseal returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if !reflect.DeepEqual(unsealed.Data, secret2.Data) {
+		t.Errorf("Unsealed secret != original secret: %v != %v", unsealed, secret2)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestSealRoundTripWithClusterWide(t *testing.T) {
 	scheme := runtime.NewScheme()
 	codecs := serializer.NewCodecFactory(scheme)