diff --git a/stdlib/2and3/smtpd.pyi b/stdlib/2and3/smtpd.pyi
index 67599d7de..870a50147 100644
--- a/stdlib/2and3/smtpd.pyi
+++ b/stdlib/2and3/smtpd.pyi
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@ class SMTPChannel(asynchat.async_chat):
                      map: Optional[asyncore._maptype] = ..., enable_SMTPUTF8: bool = ..., decode_data: bool = ...) -> None: ...
     else:
         def __init__(self, server: SMTPServer, conn: socket.socket, addr: Any, data_size_limit: int = ...) -> None: ...
-    def push(self, msg: bytes) -> None: ...
+    # base asynchat.async_chat.push() accepts bytes
+    def push(self, msg: Text) -> None: ...  # type: ignore
     def collect_incoming_data(self, data: bytes) -> None: ...
     def found_terminator(self) -> None: ...
     def smtp_HELO(self, arg: str) -> None: ...