diff --git a/JWT.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj b/JWT.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
index 3562610..f1e8625 100644
--- a/JWT.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
+++ b/JWT.xcodeproj/project.pbxproj
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 		271E10821F90253300B5033C /* JWA.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 271E107F1F90253300B5033C /* JWA.swift */; };
 		271E10831F90253300B5033C /* JWA.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 271E107F1F90253300B5033C /* JWA.swift */; };
 		271E10851F90274A00B5033C /* JOSEHeaderTests.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 271E10841F90274A00B5033C /* JOSEHeaderTests.swift */; };
+		271E10891F90334B00B5033C /* CompactJSONEncoder.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 271E10881F90334B00B5033C /* CompactJSONEncoder.swift */; };
+		271E108B1F9034B100B5033C /* CompactJSONDecoder.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 271E108A1F9034B100B5033C /* CompactJSONDecoder.swift */; };
 		273010FF1F33EABA00219C35 /* HMAC.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 273010FE1F33EABA00219C35 /* HMAC.swift */; };
 		273011001F33EABA00219C35 /* HMAC.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 273010FE1F33EABA00219C35 /* HMAC.swift */; };
 		273011011F33EABA00219C35 /* HMAC.swift in Sources */ = {isa = PBXBuildFile; fileRef = 273010FE1F33EABA00219C35 /* HMAC.swift */; };
@@ -69,6 +71,8 @@
 /* Begin PBXFileReference section */
 		271E107F1F90253300B5033C /* JWA.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = JWA.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		271E10841F90274A00B5033C /* JOSEHeaderTests.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = JOSEHeaderTests.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
+		271E10881F90334B00B5033C /* CompactJSONEncoder.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = CompactJSONEncoder.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
+		271E108A1F9034B100B5033C /* CompactJSONDecoder.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = CompactJSONDecoder.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		273010FE1F33EABA00219C35 /* HMAC.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = HMAC.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		273011041F33FC5F00219C35 /* HMACCommonCrypto.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = HMACCommonCrypto.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
 		273011091F33FC9100219C35 /* HMACCryptoSwift.swift */ = {isa = PBXFileReference; fileEncoding = 4; lastKnownFileType = sourcecode.swift; path = HMACCryptoSwift.swift; sourceTree = "<group>"; };
@@ -138,6 +142,8 @@
 			children = (
 				277794041DF221F800573F3E /* ClaimSet.swift */,
 				2777940A1DF22BE400573F3E /* JOSEHeader.swift */,
+				271E10881F90334B00B5033C /* CompactJSONEncoder.swift */,
+				271E108A1F9034B100B5033C /* CompactJSONDecoder.swift */,
 				520A71131C469F010005C709 /* Base64.swift */,
 				520A71141C469F010005C709 /* Claims.swift */,
 				520A71151C469F010005C709 /* Decode.swift */,
@@ -445,12 +451,14 @@
 				271E10801F90253300B5033C /* JWA.swift in Sources */,
 				273011161F34029900219C35 /* HMACCommonCrypto.swift in Sources */,
 				520A71181C469F010005C709 /* Claims.swift in Sources */,
+				271E10891F90334B00B5033C /* CompactJSONEncoder.swift in Sources */,
 				520A711A1C469F010005C709 /* JWT.swift in Sources */,
 				520A71191C469F010005C709 /* Decode.swift in Sources */,
 				277794101DF22D0D00573F3E /* Encode.swift in Sources */,
 				2777940B1DF22BE400573F3E /* JOSEHeader.swift in Sources */,
 				277794051DF221F800573F3E /* ClaimSet.swift in Sources */,
 				273010FF1F33EABA00219C35 /* HMAC.swift in Sources */,
+				271E108B1F9034B100B5033C /* CompactJSONDecoder.swift in Sources */,
 				520A71171C469F010005C709 /* Base64.swift in Sources */,
 			);
 			runOnlyForDeploymentPostprocessing = 0;
diff --git a/Sources/JWT/Base64.swift b/Sources/JWT/Base64.swift
index c85719b..f6bb78e 100644
--- a/Sources/JWT/Base64.swift
+++ b/Sources/JWT/Base64.swift
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ func base64encode(_ input: Data) -> String {
 
 /// URI Safe base64 decode
 func base64decode(_ input: String) -> Data? {
-  let rem = input.characters.count % 4
+  let rem = input.count % 4
 
   var ending = ""
   if rem > 0 {
diff --git a/Sources/JWT/CompactJSONDecoder.swift b/Sources/JWT/CompactJSONDecoder.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1d29309
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Sources/JWT/CompactJSONDecoder.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+class CompactJSONDecoder: JSONDecoder {
+  override func decode<T>(_ type: T.Type, from data: Data) throws -> T where T : Decodable {
+    guard let string = String(data: data, encoding: .ascii) else {
+      fatalError()
+    }
+
+    return try super.decode(type, from: base64decode(string)!)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/Sources/JWT/CompactJSONEncoder.swift b/Sources/JWT/CompactJSONEncoder.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3e454f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Sources/JWT/CompactJSONEncoder.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+class CompactJSONEncoder: JSONEncoder {
+  override func encode<T : Encodable>(_ value: T) throws -> Data {
+    return try encodeString(value).data(using: .ascii) ?? Data()
+  }
+
+  func encodeString<T: Encodable>(_ value: T) throws -> String {
+    return base64encode(try super.encode(value))
+  }
+}
diff --git a/Sources/JWT/Encode.swift b/Sources/JWT/Encode.swift
index fa716d1..3c5bb68 100644
--- a/Sources/JWT/Encode.swift
+++ b/Sources/JWT/Encode.swift
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import Foundation
  - returns: The JSON web token as a String
  */
 public func encode(claims: ClaimSet, algorithm: Algorithm, headers: [String: String]? = nil) -> String {
+  let encoder = CompactJSONEncoder()
+
   func encodeJSON(_ payload: [String: Any]) -> String? {
     if let data = try? JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: payload) {
       return base64encode(data)
@@ -20,7 +22,7 @@ public func encode(claims: ClaimSet, algorithm: Algorithm, headers: [String: Str
   }
   headers["alg"] = algorithm.description
 
-  let header = encodeJSON(headers)!
+  let header = try! encoder.encodeString(headers)
   let payload = encodeJSON(claims.claims)!
   let signingInput = "\(header).\(payload)"
   let signature = algorithm.sign(signingInput)