diff --git a/docs/sql-programming-guide.md b/docs/sql-programming-guide.md
index dc3e384008d27..b50f9360b866c 100644
--- a/docs/sql-programming-guide.md
+++ b/docs/sql-programming-guide.md
@@ -1783,6 +1783,8 @@ options.
 
  - Since Spark 2.3, when all inputs are binary, `functions.concat()` returns an output as binary. Otherwise, it returns as a string. Until Spark 2.3, it always returns as a string despite of input types. To keep the old behavior, set `spark.sql.function.concatBinaryAsString` to `true`.
 
+ - Since Spark 2.3, when all inputs are binary, SQL `elt()` returns an output as binary. Otherwise, it returns as a string. Until Spark 2.3, it always returns as a string despite of input types. To keep the old behavior, set `spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString` to `true`.
+
 ## Upgrading From Spark SQL 2.1 to 2.2
 
   - Spark 2.1.1 introduced a new configuration key: `spark.sql.hive.caseSensitiveInferenceMode`. It had a default setting of `NEVER_INFER`, which kept behavior identical to 2.1.0. However, Spark 2.2.0 changes this setting's default value to `INFER_AND_SAVE` to restore compatibility with reading Hive metastore tables whose underlying file schema have mixed-case column names. With the `INFER_AND_SAVE` configuration value, on first access Spark will perform schema inference on any Hive metastore table for which it has not already saved an inferred schema. Note that schema inference can be a very time consuming operation for tables with thousands of partitions. If compatibility with mixed-case column names is not a concern, you can safely set `spark.sql.hive.caseSensitiveInferenceMode` to `NEVER_INFER` to avoid the initial overhead of schema inference. Note that with the new default `INFER_AND_SAVE` setting, the results of the schema inference are saved as a metastore key for future use. Therefore, the initial schema inference occurs only at a table's first access.
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/TypeCoercion.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/TypeCoercion.scala
index e9436367c7e2e..e8669c4637d06 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/TypeCoercion.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/TypeCoercion.scala
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@ object TypeCoercion {
       BooleanEquality ::
       FunctionArgumentConversion ::
       ConcatCoercion(conf) ::
+      EltCoercion(conf) ::
       CaseWhenCoercion ::
       IfCoercion ::
       StackCoercion ::
@@ -684,6 +685,34 @@ object TypeCoercion {
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Coerces the types of [[Elt]] children to expected ones.
+   *
+   * If `spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString` is false and all children types are binary,
+   * the expected types are binary. Otherwise, the expected ones are strings.
+   */
+  case class EltCoercion(conf: SQLConf) extends TypeCoercionRule {
+
+    override protected def coerceTypes(plan: LogicalPlan): LogicalPlan = plan transform { case p =>
+      p transformExpressionsUp {
+        // Skip nodes if unresolved or not enough children
+        case c @ Elt(children) if !c.childrenResolved || children.size < 2 => c
+        case c @ Elt(children) =>
+          val index = children.head
+          val newIndex = ImplicitTypeCasts.implicitCast(index, IntegerType).getOrElse(index)
+          val newInputs = if (conf.eltOutputAsString ||
+              !children.tail.map(_.dataType).forall(_ == BinaryType)) {
+            children.tail.map { e =>
+              ImplicitTypeCasts.implicitCast(e, StringType).getOrElse(e)
+            }
+          } else {
+            children.tail
+          }
+          c.copy(children = newIndex +: newInputs)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Turns Add/Subtract of DateType/TimestampType/StringType and CalendarIntervalType
    * to TimeAdd/TimeSub
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/stringExpressions.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/stringExpressions.scala
index b0da55a4a961b..05363bc48f51a 100755
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/stringExpressions.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/stringExpressions.scala
@@ -271,33 +271,45 @@ case class ConcatWs(children: Seq[Expression])
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * An expression that returns the `n`-th input in given inputs.
+ * If all inputs are binary, `elt` returns an output as binary. Otherwise, it returns as string.
+ * If any input is null, `elt` returns null.
+ */
 // scalastyle:off line.size.limit
 @ExpressionDescription(
-  usage = "_FUNC_(n, str1, str2, ...) - Returns the `n`-th string, e.g., returns `str2` when `n` is 2.",
+  usage = "_FUNC_(n, input1, input2, ...) - Returns the `n`-th input, e.g., returns `input2` when `n` is 2.",
   examples = """
     Examples:
       > SELECT _FUNC_(1, 'scala', 'java');
        scala
   """)
 // scalastyle:on line.size.limit
-case class Elt(children: Seq[Expression])
-  extends Expression with ImplicitCastInputTypes {
+case class Elt(children: Seq[Expression]) extends Expression {
 
   private lazy val indexExpr = children.head
-  private lazy val stringExprs = children.tail.toArray
+  private lazy val inputExprs = children.tail.toArray
 
   /** This expression is always nullable because it returns null if index is out of range. */
   override def nullable: Boolean = true
 
-  override def dataType: DataType = StringType
-
-  override def inputTypes: Seq[DataType] = IntegerType +: Seq.fill(children.size - 1)(StringType)
+  override def dataType: DataType = inputExprs.map(_.dataType).headOption.getOrElse(StringType)
 
   override def checkInputDataTypes(): TypeCheckResult = {
     if (children.size < 2) {
       TypeCheckResult.TypeCheckFailure("elt function requires at least two arguments")
     } else {
-      super[ImplicitCastInputTypes].checkInputDataTypes()
+      val (indexType, inputTypes) = (indexExpr.dataType, inputExprs.map(_.dataType))
+      if (indexType != IntegerType) {
+        return TypeCheckResult.TypeCheckFailure(s"first input to function $prettyName should " +
+          s"have IntegerType, but it's $indexType")
+      }
+      if (inputTypes.exists(tpe => !Seq(StringType, BinaryType).contains(tpe))) {
+        return TypeCheckResult.TypeCheckFailure(
+          s"input to function $prettyName should have StringType or BinaryType, but it's " +
+            inputTypes.map(_.simpleString).mkString("[", ", ", "]"))
+      }
+      TypeUtils.checkForSameTypeInputExpr(inputTypes, s"function $prettyName")
     }
   }
 
@@ -307,27 +319,27 @@ case class Elt(children: Seq[Expression])
       null
     } else {
       val index = indexObj.asInstanceOf[Int]
-      if (index <= 0 || index > stringExprs.length) {
+      if (index <= 0 || index > inputExprs.length) {
         null
       } else {
-        stringExprs(index - 1).eval(input)
+        inputExprs(index - 1).eval(input)
       }
     }
   }
 
   override protected def doGenCode(ctx: CodegenContext, ev: ExprCode): ExprCode = {
     val index = indexExpr.genCode(ctx)
-    val strings = stringExprs.map(_.genCode(ctx))
+    val inputs = inputExprs.map(_.genCode(ctx))
     val indexVal = ctx.freshName("index")
     val indexMatched = ctx.freshName("eltIndexMatched")
 
-    val stringVal = ctx.addMutableState(ctx.javaType(dataType), "stringVal")
+    val inputVal = ctx.addMutableState(ctx.javaType(dataType), "inputVal")
 
-    val assignStringValue = strings.zipWithIndex.map { case (eval, index) =>
+    val assignInputValue = inputs.zipWithIndex.map { case (eval, index) =>
       s"""
          |if ($indexVal == ${index + 1}) {
          |  ${eval.code}
-         |  $stringVal = ${eval.isNull} ? null : ${eval.value};
+         |  $inputVal = ${eval.isNull} ? null : ${eval.value};
          |  $indexMatched = true;
          |  continue;
          |}
@@ -335,7 +347,7 @@ case class Elt(children: Seq[Expression])
     }
 
     val codes = ctx.splitExpressionsWithCurrentInputs(
-      expressions = assignStringValue,
+      expressions = assignInputValue,
       funcName = "eltFunc",
       extraArguments = ("int", indexVal) :: Nil,
       returnType = ctx.JAVA_BOOLEAN,
@@ -361,11 +373,11 @@ case class Elt(children: Seq[Expression])
          |${index.code}
          |final int $indexVal = ${index.value};
          |${ctx.JAVA_BOOLEAN} $indexMatched = false;
-         |$stringVal = null;
+         |$inputVal = null;
          |do {
          |  $codes
          |} while (false);
-         |final UTF8String ${ev.value} = $stringVal;
+         |final ${ctx.javaType(dataType)} ${ev.value} = $inputVal;
          |final boolean ${ev.isNull} = ${ev.value} == null;
        """.stripMargin)
   }
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala
index 5d6edf6b8abec..80b8965e084a2 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/internal/SQLConf.scala
@@ -1052,6 +1052,12 @@ object SQLConf {
     .booleanConf
     .createWithDefault(false)
 
+  val ELT_OUTPUT_AS_STRING = buildConf("spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString")
+    .doc("When this option is set to false and all inputs are binary, `elt` returns " +
+      "an output as binary. Otherwise, it returns as a string. ")
+    .booleanConf
+    .createWithDefault(false)
+
   val CONTINUOUS_STREAMING_EXECUTOR_QUEUE_SIZE =
     buildConf("spark.sql.streaming.continuous.executorQueueSize")
     .internal()
@@ -1412,6 +1418,8 @@ class SQLConf extends Serializable with Logging {
 
   def concatBinaryAsString: Boolean = getConf(CONCAT_BINARY_AS_STRING)
 
+  def eltOutputAsString: Boolean = getConf(ELT_OUTPUT_AS_STRING)
+
   def partitionOverwriteMode: PartitionOverwriteMode.Value =
     PartitionOverwriteMode.withName(getConf(PARTITION_OVERWRITE_MODE))
 
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/TypeCoercionSuite.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/TypeCoercionSuite.scala
index 3661530cd622b..52a7ebdafd7c7 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/TypeCoercionSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/analysis/TypeCoercionSuite.scala
@@ -923,6 +923,60 @@ class TypeCoercionSuite extends AnalysisTest {
     }
   }
 
+  test("type coercion for Elt") {
+    val rule = TypeCoercion.EltCoercion(conf)
+
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Literal("ab"), Literal("cde"))),
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Literal("ab"), Literal("cde"))))
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1.toShort), Literal("ab"), Literal("cde"))),
+      Elt(Seq(Cast(Literal(1.toShort), IntegerType), Literal("ab"), Literal("cde"))))
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(2), Literal(null), Literal("abc"))),
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(2), Cast(Literal(null), StringType), Literal("abc"))))
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(2), Literal(1), Literal("234"))),
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(2), Cast(Literal(1), StringType), Literal("234"))))
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(3), Literal(1L), Literal(2.toByte), Literal(0.1))),
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(3), Cast(Literal(1L), StringType), Cast(Literal(2.toByte), StringType),
+        Cast(Literal(0.1), StringType))))
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(2), Literal(true), Literal(0.1f), Literal(3.toShort))),
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(2), Cast(Literal(true), StringType), Cast(Literal(0.1f), StringType),
+        Cast(Literal(3.toShort), StringType))))
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Literal(1L), Literal(0.1))),
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Cast(Literal(1L), StringType), Cast(Literal(0.1), StringType))))
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Literal(Decimal(10)))),
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Cast(Literal(Decimal(10)), StringType))))
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Literal(BigDecimal.valueOf(10)))),
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Cast(Literal(BigDecimal.valueOf(10)), StringType))))
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Literal(java.math.BigDecimal.valueOf(10)))),
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Cast(Literal(java.math.BigDecimal.valueOf(10)), StringType))))
+    ruleTest(rule,
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(2), Literal(new java.sql.Date(0)), Literal(new Timestamp(0)))),
+      Elt(Seq(Literal(2), Cast(Literal(new java.sql.Date(0)), StringType),
+        Cast(Literal(new Timestamp(0)), StringType))))
+
+    withSQLConf("spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString" -> "true") {
+      ruleTest(rule,
+        Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Literal("123".getBytes), Literal("456".getBytes))),
+        Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Cast(Literal("123".getBytes), StringType),
+          Cast(Literal("456".getBytes), StringType))))
+    }
+
+    withSQLConf("spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString" -> "false") {
+      ruleTest(rule,
+        Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Literal("123".getBytes), Literal("456".getBytes))),
+        Elt(Seq(Literal(1), Literal("123".getBytes), Literal("456".getBytes))))
+    }
+  }
+
   test("BooleanEquality type cast") {
     val be = TypeCoercion.BooleanEquality
     // Use something more than a literal to avoid triggering the simplification rules.
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/resources/sql-tests/inputs/typeCoercion/native/elt.sql b/sql/core/src/test/resources/sql-tests/inputs/typeCoercion/native/elt.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..717616f91db05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/resources/sql-tests/inputs/typeCoercion/native/elt.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+-- Mixed inputs (output type is string)
+SELECT elt(2, col1, col2, col3, col4, col5) col
+FROM (
+  SELECT
+    'prefix_' col1,
+    id col2,
+    string(id + 1) col3,
+    encode(string(id + 2), 'utf-8') col4,
+    CAST(id AS DOUBLE) col5
+  FROM range(10)
+);
+
+SELECT elt(3, col1, col2, col3, col4) col
+FROM (
+  SELECT
+    string(id) col1,
+    string(id + 1) col2,
+    encode(string(id + 2), 'utf-8') col3,
+    encode(string(id + 3), 'utf-8') col4
+  FROM range(10)
+);
+
+-- turn on eltOutputAsString
+set spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString=true;
+
+SELECT elt(1, col1, col2) col
+FROM (
+  SELECT
+    encode(string(id), 'utf-8') col1,
+    encode(string(id + 1), 'utf-8') col2
+  FROM range(10)
+);
+
+-- turn off eltOutputAsString
+set spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString=false;
+
+-- Elt binary inputs (output type is binary)
+SELECT elt(2, col1, col2) col
+FROM (
+  SELECT
+    encode(string(id), 'utf-8') col1,
+    encode(string(id + 1), 'utf-8') col2
+  FROM range(10)
+);
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/resources/sql-tests/results/typeCoercion/native/elt.sql.out b/sql/core/src/test/resources/sql-tests/results/typeCoercion/native/elt.sql.out
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b62e1b6826045
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/resources/sql-tests/results/typeCoercion/native/elt.sql.out
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+-- Automatically generated by SQLQueryTestSuite
+-- Number of queries: 6
+
+
+-- !query 0
+SELECT elt(2, col1, col2, col3, col4, col5) col
+FROM (
+  SELECT
+    'prefix_' col1,
+    id col2,
+    string(id + 1) col3,
+    encode(string(id + 2), 'utf-8') col4,
+    CAST(id AS DOUBLE) col5
+  FROM range(10)
+)
+-- !query 0 schema
+struct<col:string>
+-- !query 0 output
+0
+1
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
+7
+8
+9
+
+
+-- !query 1
+SELECT elt(3, col1, col2, col3, col4) col
+FROM (
+  SELECT
+    string(id) col1,
+    string(id + 1) col2,
+    encode(string(id + 2), 'utf-8') col3,
+    encode(string(id + 3), 'utf-8') col4
+  FROM range(10)
+)
+-- !query 1 schema
+struct<col:string>
+-- !query 1 output
+10
+11
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
+7
+8
+9
+
+
+-- !query 2
+set spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString=true
+-- !query 2 schema
+struct<key:string,value:string>
+-- !query 2 output
+spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString	true
+
+
+-- !query 3
+SELECT elt(1, col1, col2) col
+FROM (
+  SELECT
+    encode(string(id), 'utf-8') col1,
+    encode(string(id + 1), 'utf-8') col2
+  FROM range(10)
+)
+-- !query 3 schema
+struct<col:string>
+-- !query 3 output
+0
+1
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
+7
+8
+9
+
+
+-- !query 4
+set spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString=false
+-- !query 4 schema
+struct<key:string,value:string>
+-- !query 4 output
+spark.sql.function.eltOutputAsString	false
+
+
+-- !query 5
+SELECT elt(2, col1, col2) col
+FROM (
+  SELECT
+    encode(string(id), 'utf-8') col1,
+    encode(string(id + 1), 'utf-8') col2
+  FROM range(10)
+)
+-- !query 5 schema
+struct<col:binary>
+-- !query 5 output
+1
+10
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
+7
+8
+9