diff --git a/jOOQ-meta/src/main/java/org/jooq/meta/firebird/FirebirdDatabase.java b/jOOQ-meta/src/main/java/org/jooq/meta/firebird/FirebirdDatabase.java
index a88723d63e..2c9193d8d3 100644
--- a/jOOQ-meta/src/main/java/org/jooq/meta/firebird/FirebirdDatabase.java
+++ b/jOOQ-meta/src/main/java/org/jooq/meta/firebird/FirebirdDatabase.java
@@ -715,7 +715,7 @@ public class FirebirdDatabase extends AbstractDatabase implements ResultQueryDat
 
     @Override
     protected DSLContext create0() {
-        return DSL.using(getConnection(), SQLDialect.FIREBIRD, new Settings().withFetchTrimmedStrings(true));
+        return DSL.using(getConnection(), SQLDialect.FIREBIRD, new Settings().withFetchTrimmedCharValues(true));
     }
 
     static Field<String> FIELD_TYPE(Rdb$fields f) {
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/DataType.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/DataType.java
index 08d6f657c2..8ec05db5b3 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/DataType.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/DataType.java
@@ -1218,6 +1218,13 @@ public interface DataType<T> extends Named {
      */
     boolean hasLength();
 
+    /**
+     * Whether this data type has a fixed length.
+     *
+     * @return Whether this data type has a fixed length
+     */
+    boolean hasFixedLength();
+
     /**
      * Whether the precision returned by {@link #length()} is defined.
      * <p>
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/Settings.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/Settings.java
index 42da679ad0..fffaae99c5 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/Settings.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/conf/Settings.java
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ public class Settings
     @XmlElement(defaultValue = "false")
     protected Boolean bindOffsetTimeType = false;
     @XmlElement(defaultValue = "false")
-    protected Boolean fetchTrimmedStrings = false;
+    protected Boolean fetchTrimmedCharValues = false;
     @XmlElement(defaultValue = "true")
     protected Boolean fetchTriggerValuesAfterSQLServerOutput = true;
     @XmlElement(defaultValue = "WHEN_NEEDED")
@@ -1584,37 +1584,37 @@ public class Settings
     }
 
     /**
-     * Whether right trim fetched strings from JDBC {@link java.sql.ResultSet}.
+     * Whether right trim fetched <code>CHAR</code> typed strings from JDBC {@link java.sql.ResultSet}.
      * <p>
      * By default, jOOQ's internal {@link String} data type {@link org.jooq.Binding} fetched strings
-     * as returned by JDBC. With this flag enabled, jOOQ will always right-trim such strings, which
-     * can be useful in database products that will often right-pad strings with a fixed amount of
-     * useless whitespaces.
+     * as returned by JDBC. With this flag enabled, jOOQ will always right-trim <code>CHAR</code> 
+     * typed strings, which can be useful in database products that will often use this historic
+     * fixed length string type, especially in dictionary views.
      * 
      * @return
      *     possible object is
      *     {@link Boolean }
      *     
      */
-    public Boolean isFetchTrimmedStrings() {
-        return fetchTrimmedStrings;
+    public Boolean isFetchTrimmedCharValues() {
+        return fetchTrimmedCharValues;
     }
 
     /**
-     * Whether right trim fetched strings from JDBC {@link java.sql.ResultSet}.
+     * Whether right trim fetched <code>CHAR</code> typed strings from JDBC {@link java.sql.ResultSet}.
      * <p>
      * By default, jOOQ's internal {@link String} data type {@link org.jooq.Binding} fetched strings
-     * as returned by JDBC. With this flag enabled, jOOQ will always right-trim such strings, which
-     * can be useful in database products that will often right-pad strings with a fixed amount of
-     * useless whitespaces.
+     * as returned by JDBC. With this flag enabled, jOOQ will always right-trim <code>CHAR</code> 
+     * typed strings, which can be useful in database products that will often use this historic
+     * fixed length string type, especially in dictionary views.
      * 
      * @param value
      *     allowed object is
      *     {@link Boolean }
      *     
      */
-    public void setFetchTrimmedStrings(Boolean value) {
-        this.fetchTrimmedStrings = value;
+    public void setFetchTrimmedCharValues(Boolean value) {
+        this.fetchTrimmedCharValues = value;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -7221,16 +7221,16 @@ public class Settings
     }
 
     /**
-     * Whether right trim fetched strings from JDBC {@link java.sql.ResultSet}.
+     * Whether right trim fetched <code>CHAR</code> typed strings from JDBC {@link java.sql.ResultSet}.
      * <p>
      * By default, jOOQ's internal {@link String} data type {@link org.jooq.Binding} fetched strings
-     * as returned by JDBC. With this flag enabled, jOOQ will always right-trim such strings, which
-     * can be useful in database products that will often right-pad strings with a fixed amount of
-     * useless whitespaces.
+     * as returned by JDBC. With this flag enabled, jOOQ will always right-trim <code>CHAR</code> 
+     * typed strings, which can be useful in database products that will often use this historic
+     * fixed length string type, especially in dictionary views.
      * 
      */
-    public Settings withFetchTrimmedStrings(Boolean value) {
-        setFetchTrimmedStrings(value);
+    public Settings withFetchTrimmedCharValues(Boolean value) {
+        setFetchTrimmedCharValues(value);
         return this;
     }
 
@@ -9571,7 +9571,7 @@ public class Settings
         builder.append("namePathSeparator", namePathSeparator);
         builder.append("bindOffsetDateTimeType", bindOffsetDateTimeType);
         builder.append("bindOffsetTimeType", bindOffsetTimeType);
-        builder.append("fetchTrimmedStrings", fetchTrimmedStrings);
+        builder.append("fetchTrimmedCharValues", fetchTrimmedCharValues);
         builder.append("fetchTriggerValuesAfterSQLServerOutput", fetchTriggerValuesAfterSQLServerOutput);
         builder.append("fetchTriggerValuesAfterReturning", fetchTriggerValuesAfterReturning);
         builder.append("fetchIntermediateResult", fetchIntermediateResult);
@@ -10131,12 +10131,12 @@ public class Settings
                 return false;
             }
         }
-        if (fetchTrimmedStrings == null) {
-            if (other.fetchTrimmedStrings!= null) {
+        if (fetchTrimmedCharValues == null) {
+            if (other.fetchTrimmedCharValues!= null) {
                 return false;
             }
         } else {
-            if (!fetchTrimmedStrings.equals(other.fetchTrimmedStrings)) {
+            if (!fetchTrimmedCharValues.equals(other.fetchTrimmedCharValues)) {
                 return false;
             }
         }
@@ -11869,7 +11869,7 @@ public class Settings
         result = ((prime*result)+((namePathSeparator == null)? 0 :namePathSeparator.hashCode()));
         result = ((prime*result)+((bindOffsetDateTimeType == null)? 0 :bindOffsetDateTimeType.hashCode()));
         result = ((prime*result)+((bindOffsetTimeType == null)? 0 :bindOffsetTimeType.hashCode()));
-        result = ((prime*result)+((fetchTrimmedStrings == null)? 0 :fetchTrimmedStrings.hashCode()));
+        result = ((prime*result)+((fetchTrimmedCharValues == null)? 0 :fetchTrimmedCharValues.hashCode()));
         result = ((prime*result)+((fetchTriggerValuesAfterSQLServerOutput == null)? 0 :fetchTriggerValuesAfterSQLServerOutput.hashCode()));
         result = ((prime*result)+((fetchTriggerValuesAfterReturning == null)? 0 :fetchTriggerValuesAfterReturning.hashCode()));
         result = ((prime*result)+((fetchIntermediateResult == null)? 0 :fetchIntermediateResult.hashCode()));
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractDataType.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractDataType.java
index 5283fc0050..15d57be4c0 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractDataType.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/AbstractDataType.java
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ import static org.jooq.impl.Internal.arrayType;
 import static org.jooq.impl.QOM.GenerationOption.STORED;
 import static org.jooq.impl.QOM.GenerationOption.VIRTUAL;
 import static org.jooq.impl.SQLDataType.BLOB;
+import static org.jooq.impl.SQLDataType.CHAR;
 import static org.jooq.impl.SQLDataType.CLOB;
 import static org.jooq.impl.SQLDataType.NCHAR;
 import static org.jooq.impl.SQLDataType.NCLOB;
@@ -478,6 +479,17 @@ implements
         return (tType == byte[].class || tType == String.class) && !isLob();
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public final boolean hasFixedLength() {
+        AbstractDataType<T> t = (AbstractDataType<T>) getSQLDataType();
+        return t == CHAR
+            || t == NCHAR
+
+            // [#9540] [#10368] In case the constant literals haven't been initialised yet
+            || CHAR == null && "char".equals(t.typeName0())
+            || NCHAR == null && "nchar".equals(t.typeName0());
+    }
+
     @Override
     public final boolean lengthDefined() {
         return length0() != null && hasLength();
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultBinding.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultBinding.java
index 1a1716a9bc..3e4887c35c 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultBinding.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/DefaultBinding.java
@@ -3927,7 +3927,7 @@ public class DefaultBinding<T, U> implements Binding<T, U> {
             }
             else if (object instanceof Clob clob) {
                 try {
-                    return autoRtrim(ctx, clob.getSubString(1, asInt(clob.length())));
+                    return clob.getSubString(1, asInt(clob.length()));
                 }
                 finally {
                     JDBCUtils.safeFree(clob);
@@ -4660,24 +4660,17 @@ public class DefaultBinding<T, U> implements Binding<T, U> {
 
 
 
-            return autoRtrim(ctx, ctx.resultSet().getString(ctx.index()));
-        }
-
-        static final String autoRtrim(Scope ctx, String string) {
-            if (!isEmpty(string) && TRUE.equals(ctx.settings().isFetchTrimmedStrings()))
-                return rtrim(string);
-            else
-                return string;
+            return autoRtrim(ctx, dataType, ctx.resultSet().getString(ctx.index()));
         }
 
         @Override
         final String get0(BindingGetStatementContext<U> ctx) throws SQLException {
-            return autoRtrim(ctx, ctx.statement().getString(ctx.index()));
+            return autoRtrim(ctx, dataType, ctx.statement().getString(ctx.index()));
         }
 
         @Override
         final String get0(BindingGetSQLInputContext<U> ctx) throws SQLException {
-            return autoRtrim(ctx, ctx.input().readString());
+            return autoRtrim(ctx, dataType, ctx.input().readString());
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -4691,6 +4684,13 @@ public class DefaultBinding<T, U> implements Binding<T, U> {
 
             return Types.VARCHAR;
         }
+
+        static final String autoRtrim(Scope ctx, DataType<String> type, String string) {
+            if (type.hasFixedLength() && !isEmpty(string) && TRUE.equals(ctx.settings().isFetchTrimmedCharValues()))
+                return rtrim(string);
+            else
+                return string;
+        }
     }
 
     static final class DefaultNStringBinding<U> extends InternalBinding<String, U> {
@@ -4753,7 +4753,7 @@ public class DefaultBinding<T, U> implements Binding<T, U> {
             if (NO_SUPPORT_NVARCHAR.contains(ctx.dialect()))
                 return fallback.get0(ctx);
             else
-                return autoRtrim(ctx, ctx.resultSet().getNString(ctx.index()));
+                return autoRtrim(ctx, dataType, ctx.resultSet().getNString(ctx.index()));
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -4761,7 +4761,7 @@ public class DefaultBinding<T, U> implements Binding<T, U> {
             if (NO_SUPPORT_NVARCHAR.contains(ctx.dialect()))
                 return fallback.get0(ctx);
             else
-                return autoRtrim(ctx, ctx.statement().getNString(ctx.index()));
+                return autoRtrim(ctx, dataType, ctx.statement().getNString(ctx.index()));
         }
 
         @Override
@@ -4769,7 +4769,7 @@ public class DefaultBinding<T, U> implements Binding<T, U> {
             if (NO_SUPPORT_NVARCHAR.contains(ctx.dialect()))
                 return fallback.get0(ctx);
             else
-                return autoRtrim(ctx, ctx.input().readNString());
+                return autoRtrim(ctx, dataType, ctx.input().readNString());
         }
 
         @Override
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/MetaImpl.java b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/MetaImpl.java
index 5a0d7d9fff..0149747a23 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/MetaImpl.java
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/java/org/jooq/impl/MetaImpl.java
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ final class MetaImpl extends AbstractMeta {
 
         private final DSLContext ctx(DatabaseMetaData meta) throws SQLException {
             if (RTRIM_META_SQL_STRINGS.contains(dialect()))
-                return DSL.using(meta.getConnection(), dialect(), new Settings().withFetchTrimmedStrings(true));
+                return DSL.using(meta.getConnection(), dialect(), new Settings().withFetchTrimmedCharValues(true));
             else
                 return DSL.using(meta.getConnection(), dialect());
         }
diff --git a/jOOQ/src/main/resources/org/jooq/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd b/jOOQ/src/main/resources/org/jooq/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd
index c8a634f2c5..d46c6145f4 100644
--- a/jOOQ/src/main/resources/org/jooq/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd
+++ b/jOOQ/src/main/resources/org/jooq/xsd/jooq-runtime-3.20.0.xsd
@@ -319,13 +319,13 @@ This flag allows for reverting to pre-jOOQ 3.14 behaviour, where the default is
 For details, see <a href="https://github.com/jOOQ/jOOQ/issues/9902">https://github.com/jOOQ/jOOQ/issues/9902</a>.]]></jxb:javadoc></jxb:property></appinfo></annotation>
       </element>
       
-      <element name="fetchTrimmedStrings" type="boolean" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" default="false">
-        <annotation><appinfo><jxb:property><jxb:javadoc><![CDATA[Whether right trim fetched strings from JDBC {@link java.sql.ResultSet}.
+      <element name="fetchTrimmedCharValues" type="boolean" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" default="false">
+        <annotation><appinfo><jxb:property><jxb:javadoc><![CDATA[Whether right trim fetched <code>CHAR</code> typed strings from JDBC {@link java.sql.ResultSet}.
 <p>
 By default, jOOQ's internal {@link String} data type {@link org.jooq.Binding} fetched strings
-as returned by JDBC. With this flag enabled, jOOQ will always right-trim such strings, which
-can be useful in database products that will often right-pad strings with a fixed amount of
-useless whitespaces.]]></jxb:javadoc></jxb:property></appinfo></annotation>
+as returned by JDBC. With this flag enabled, jOOQ will always right-trim <code>CHAR</code> 
+typed strings, which can be useful in database products that will often use this historic
+fixed length string type, especially in dictionary views.]]></jxb:javadoc></jxb:property></appinfo></annotation>
       </element>
       
       <element name="fetchTriggerValuesAfterSQLServerOutput" type="boolean" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="1" default="true">