diff --git a/py/mpconfig.h b/py/mpconfig.h
index 19e290c37e..2ba5f1acf2 100644
--- a/py/mpconfig.h
+++ b/py/mpconfig.h
@@ -590,6 +590,11 @@ typedef double mp_float_t;
 #define MICROPY_PY_ASYNC_AWAIT (1)
 #endif
 
+// Support for async/await/async for/async with
+#ifndef MICROPY_PY_STR_BYTES_CMP_WARN
+#define MICROPY_PY_STR_BYTES_CMP_WARN (0)
+#endif
+
 // Whether str object is proper unicode
 #ifndef MICROPY_PY_BUILTINS_STR_UNICODE
 #define MICROPY_PY_BUILTINS_STR_UNICODE (0)
diff --git a/py/obj.c b/py/obj.c
index 9efa0f05ae..db4dd770fc 100644
--- a/py/obj.c
+++ b/py/obj.c
@@ -192,10 +192,16 @@ bool mp_obj_equal(mp_obj_t o1, mp_obj_t o2) {
             return mp_obj_str_equal(o1, o2);
         } else {
             // a string is never equal to anything else
-            return false;
+            goto str_cmp_err;
         }
     } else if (MP_OBJ_IS_STR(o2)) {
         // o1 is not a string (else caught above), so the objects are not equal
+    str_cmp_err:
+        #if MICROPY_PY_STR_BYTES_CMP_WARN
+        if (MP_OBJ_IS_TYPE(o1, &mp_type_bytes) || MP_OBJ_IS_TYPE(o2, &mp_type_bytes)) {
+            mp_warning("BytesWarning: Comparison between bytes and str");
+        }
+        #endif
         return false;
     }