diff --git a/harbour/ChangeLog b/harbour/ChangeLog
index 8c5f13ba79..8055b7ef4b 100644
--- a/harbour/ChangeLog
+++ b/harbour/ChangeLog
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@
    past entries belonging to these authors: Viktor Szakats.
 */
 
+2009-05-19 11:46 UTC+0200 Przemyslaw Czerpak (druzus/at/priv.onet.pl)
+  * harbour/contrib/xhb/xhbmsgs.c
+    ! fixed one byte string as number emulation in some math operations
+      where both expressions are one byte strings, f.e.:
+         ? "A" * "B"
+
 2009-05-19 08:19 UTC+0200 Viktor Szakats (harbour.01 syenar hu)
   * utils/hbmk2/hbmk2.pt_BR.po
   * utils/hbmk2/hbmk2.hu_HU.po
diff --git a/harbour/contrib/xhb/xhbmsgs.c b/harbour/contrib/xhb/xhbmsgs.c
index 692b895bb5..d6bc030c4a 100644
--- a/harbour/contrib/xhb/xhbmsgs.c
+++ b/harbour/contrib/xhb/xhbmsgs.c
@@ -504,6 +504,13 @@ HB_FUNC( XHB_MULT )
       double dValue = hb_itemGetNDDec( pValue, &iDec );
       hb_retndlen( ( double ) uc * dValue, 0, iDec );
    }
+   else if( HB_IS_STRING( pSelf ) && hb_itemGetCLen( pSelf ) == 1 &&
+            hb_itemGetCLen( pValue ) == 1 )
+   {
+      UCHAR uc1 = ( UCHAR ) hb_itemGetCPtr( pSelf )[0],
+            uc2 = ( UCHAR ) hb_itemGetCPtr( pValue )[0];
+      hb_retnint( uc1 * uc2 );
+   }
    else
    {
       PHB_ITEM pResult = hb_errRT_BASE_Subst( EG_ARG, 1083, NULL, "*", 2, pSelf, pValue );
@@ -529,11 +536,12 @@ HB_FUNC( XHB_DIV )
       else
          hb_retnd( hb_itemGetND( pSelf ) / uc );
    }
-   else if( HB_IS_STRING( pSelf ) && hb_itemGetCLen( pSelf ) == 1 &&
-            pValue && HB_IS_NUMERIC( pValue ) )
+   else if( HB_IS_STRING( pSelf ) && hb_itemGetCLen( pSelf ) == 1 && pValue &&
+            ( HB_IS_NUMERIC( pValue ) || hb_itemGetCLen( pValue ) == 1 ) )
    {
       UCHAR uc = ( UCHAR ) hb_itemGetCPtr( pSelf )[0];
-      double dDivisor = hb_itemGetND( pValue );
+      double dDivisor = HB_IS_NUMERIC( pValue ) ? hb_itemGetND( pValue ) :
+                        ( double ) ( ( UCHAR ) hb_itemGetCPtr( pValue )[0] );
 
       if( dDivisor == 0 )
       {
@@ -569,11 +577,12 @@ HB_FUNC( XHB_MOD )
       else
          hb_retnd( fmod( hb_itemGetND( pSelf ), ( double ) uc ) );
    }
-   else if( HB_IS_STRING( pSelf ) && hb_itemGetCLen( pSelf ) == 1 &&
-            pValue && HB_IS_NUMERIC( pValue ) )
+   else if( HB_IS_STRING( pSelf ) && hb_itemGetCLen( pSelf ) == 1 && pValue &&
+            ( HB_IS_NUMERIC( pValue ) || hb_itemGetCLen( pValue ) == 1 ) )
    {
       UCHAR uc = ( UCHAR ) hb_itemGetCPtr( pSelf )[0];
-      double dDivisor = hb_itemGetND( pValue );
+      double dDivisor = HB_IS_NUMERIC( pValue ) ? hb_itemGetND( pValue ) :
+                        ( double ) ( ( UCHAR ) hb_itemGetCPtr( pValue )[0] );
 
       if( dDivisor == 0 )
       {
@@ -608,6 +617,13 @@ HB_FUNC( XHB_POW )
       UCHAR uc = ( UCHAR ) hb_itemGetCPtr( pSelf )[0];
       hb_retnd( pow( ( double ) uc, hb_itemGetND( pValue ) ) );
    }
+   else if( HB_IS_STRING( pSelf ) && hb_itemGetCLen( pSelf ) == 1 &&
+            hb_itemGetCLen( pValue ) == 1 )
+   {
+      UCHAR uc1 = ( UCHAR ) hb_itemGetCPtr( pSelf )[0],
+            uc2 = ( UCHAR ) hb_itemGetCPtr( pValue )[0];
+      hb_retnd( pow( ( double ) uc1, ( double ) uc2 ) );
+   }
    else
    {
       PHB_ITEM pResult = hb_errRT_BASE_Subst( EG_ARG, 1088, NULL, "^", 2, pSelf, pValue );