diff --git a/src/crockford.ml b/src/crockford.ml
index 7a412d24..e8df9ca4 100644
--- a/src/crockford.ml
+++ b/src/crockford.ml
@@ -5,19 +5,11 @@
      - '-' is not allowed
      - checksum is not allowed *)
 
-(* 'I' 'L' 'O' 'U' excluded
-   no '=' padding in encoded string *)
 type t = string
 
+(* 'I' 'L' 'O' 'U' excluded *)
 let alphabet = Base32.make_alphabet "0123456789ABCDEFGHJKMNPQRSTVWXYZ"
 
-let encode s =
-  let s = Base32.encode_string ~alphabet s in
-  (* remove '=' padding *)
-  match String.index_opt s '=' with
-  | None -> s
-  | Some i -> String.sub s 0 i
-
 let decode s =
   let s =
     String.map
@@ -29,9 +21,8 @@ let decode s =
         | c -> c)
       s
   in
-  (* restore padding for base32 lib *)
-  let n = 8 - (String.length s mod 8) in
-  let pad = String.make n '=' in
-  let s = s ^ pad in
   Base32.decode ~alphabet ~off:0 ~len:(String.length s) s
   |> Result.map_error (fun (`Msg e) -> e)
+
+(* no '=' padding *)
+let encode s = Base32.encode_string ~pad:false ~alphabet s