diff --git a/optparse-applicative.cabal b/optparse-applicative.cabal
index 5ad9a3ab..5d27f3d0 100644
--- a/optparse-applicative.cabal
+++ b/optparse-applicative.cabal
@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ test-suite tests
                      , Examples.Hello
 
   build-depends:       base
-                     , bytestring                      >= 0.9 && < 0.11
                      , optparse-applicative
                      , QuickCheck                      >= 2.8 && < 2.15
 
diff --git a/tests/test.hs b/tests/test.hs
index a66d37cc..3c8bf6a4 100644
--- a/tests/test.hs
+++ b/tests/test.hs
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@ import qualified Examples.Formatting as Formatting
 
 import           Control.Applicative
 import           Control.Monad
-import           Data.ByteString (ByteString)
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as BS8
 import           Data.List hiding (group)
 import           Data.List.NonEmpty (NonEmpty ((:|)))
 import           Data.Semigroup hiding (option)
@@ -768,15 +766,6 @@ prop_suggest = once $
     in  counterexample msg
        $  isInfixOf "Did you mean one of these?\n    first\n    fst" msg
 
-prop_bytestring_reader :: Property
-prop_bytestring_reader = once $
-  let t = "testValue"
-      p :: Parser ByteString
-      p = argument str idm
-      i = info p idm
-      result = run i ["testValue"]
-  in assertResult result $ \xs -> BS8.pack t === xs
-
 prop_grouped_some_option_ellipsis :: Property
 prop_grouped_some_option_ellipsis = once $
   let x :: Parser String