diff --git a/lib/base58.rb b/lib/base58.rb
index 6735762..63a57c0 100644
--- a/lib/base58.rb
+++ b/lib/base58.rb
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ def self.binary_to_base58(binary_val, alphabet = :flickr, include_leading_zeroes
       prefix = ''
     end
 
-    prefix + int_to_base58(binary_val.bytes.inject{|a,b|(a<<8)+b}, alphabet)
+    prefix + int_to_base58(binary_val.unpack('H*')[0].to_i(16), alphabet)
   end
 
   # Converts a base58 string to an ASCII-8BIT (binary) encoded string.