diff --git a/pypechain/templates/contract.py/base.py.jinja2 b/pypechain/templates/contract.py/base.py.jinja2
index 8476c2f9..0cb76508 100644
--- a/pypechain/templates/contract.py/base.py.jinja2
+++ b/pypechain/templates/contract.py/base.py.jinja2
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ from web3._utils.filters import LogFilter
 {% for struct_info in structs_used %}
 from .{{struct_info.contract_name}}Types import {{struct_info.name}}
 {% endfor %}
-from .utilities import dataclass_to_tuple, get_abi_input_types, rename_returned_types, tuple_to_dataclass
+from .utilities import dataclass_to_tuple, get_abi_input_types, rename_returned_types, try_bytecode_hexbytes, tuple_to_dataclass
 
 
 structs = {
diff --git a/pypechain/templates/contract.py/contract.py.jinja2 b/pypechain/templates/contract.py/contract.py.jinja2
index 7eb3f3df..92b57ae2 100644
--- a/pypechain/templates/contract.py/contract.py.jinja2
+++ b/pypechain/templates/contract.py/contract.py.jinja2
@@ -3,17 +3,10 @@ class {{contract_name}}Contract(Contract):
 
     abi: ABI = {{contract_name | lower}}_abi
     {%- if has_bytecode %}
-    bytecode: bytes
+    bytecode: bytes | None = try_bytecode_hexbytes({{contract_name | lower}}_bytecode, "{{contract_name | lower}}")
     {%- endif %}
 
-    def __init__(self, address: ChecksumAddress | None = None, bytecode: str | bytes | None = None) -> None:
-        if bytes is None:
-            self.bytecode = HexBytes({{contract_name | lower}}_bytecode)
-        elif isinstance(bytecode, bytes):
-            self.bytecode = bytecode
-        elif isinstance(bytecode, str):
-            self.bytecode = HexBytes(bytecode)
-
+    def __init__(self, address: ChecksumAddress | None = None) -> None:
         try:
             # Initialize parent Contract class
             super().__init__(address=address)
diff --git a/pypechain/templates/utilities.py b/pypechain/templates/utilities.py
index 00b87d9d..0072e85a 100644
--- a/pypechain/templates/utilities.py
+++ b/pypechain/templates/utilities.py
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 from typing import Any, Tuple, TypeVar, cast
 
 from eth_utils.abi import collapse_if_tuple
+from hexbytes import HexBytes
 from web3.types import ABIFunction
 
 T = TypeVar("T")
@@ -134,3 +135,28 @@ def get_abi_input_types(abi: ABIFunction) -> list[str]:
     if "inputs" not in abi and (abi.get("type") == "fallback" or abi.get("type") == "receive"):
         return []
     return [collapse_if_tuple(cast(dict[str, Any], arg)) for arg in abi.get("inputs", [])]
+
+
+def try_bytecode_hexbytes(in_bytecode: Any, contract_name: str | None = None) -> HexBytes | None:
+    """Attempts to convert bytecode input to HexBytes. Returns None if it fails.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    in_bytecode : Any
+        The bytecode to attempt to convert to HexBytes
+    contract_name : str | None, optional
+        The name of the contract being deployed. Used for better warning printing.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    HexBytes | None
+        The HexBytes if it succeeds, otherwise None
+    """
+    try:
+        return HexBytes(in_bytecode)
+    except Exception as e:  # pylint: disable=broad-except
+        if contract_name is None:
+            print(f"Warning: failed to convert bytecode to HexBytes: {e}")
+        else:
+            print(f"Warning: failed to convert bytecode for {contract_name} to HexBytes: {e}")
+        return None
diff --git a/pypechain/templates/utilities_test.py b/pypechain/templates/utilities_test.py
index 13113c6d..e928ac12 100644
--- a/pypechain/templates/utilities_test.py
+++ b/pypechain/templates/utilities_test.py
@@ -3,7 +3,14 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from typing import TypeVar
 
-from pypechain.templates.utilities import dataclass_to_tuple, rename_returned_types, tuple_to_dataclass
+from hexbytes import HexBytes
+
+from pypechain.templates.utilities import (
+    dataclass_to_tuple,
+    rename_returned_types,
+    try_bytecode_hexbytes,
+    tuple_to_dataclass,
+)
 
 T = TypeVar("T")
 
@@ -118,3 +125,17 @@ def test_non_dataclass_passthrough(self):
         assert result == "not a dataclass"
 
     # Add any additional test cases here
+
+
+class TestTryHexbytes:
+    def test_correct_hexbytes_return(self):
+        """Test that try hexbytes converts to HexBytes if possible."""
+        str_bytes = "1234"
+        expected = HexBytes(str_bytes)
+        out = try_bytecode_hexbytes(expected)
+        assert expected == out
+
+    def test_incorrect_hexbytes_return(self):
+        str_bytes = "asdf"
+        out = try_bytecode_hexbytes(str_bytes)
+        assert out is None
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 27b9b667..456a1126 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [project]
 
 name = "pypechain"
-version = "0.0.28"
+version = "0.0.29"
 authors = [
     { name = "Matthew Brown", email = "matt@delv.tech" },
     { name = "Dylan Paiton", email = "dylan@delv.tech" },