diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 301b453..aa02a47 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ checksum = "826e7639553986605ec5979c7dd957c7895e93eabed50ab2ffa7f6128a75097c"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "urbit-q"
-version = "0.1.2"
+version = "0.2.0"
 dependencies = [
  "phf",
  "proptest",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index cf2de95..301f87f 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "urbit-q"
-version = "0.1.2"
+version = "0.2.0"
 authors = ["k2l8m11n2"]
 edition = "2018"
 description = "Encode and decode data in Urbit's @q format"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 90e5a82..a21f924 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ Based on [urbit-ob](https://github.com/urbit/urbit-ob), supports only the `@q` f
 
 ## usage
 
-Note that `encode` pads the beginning to an even number of bytes (as per the
-original implementation) and `decode` ignores any dashes or spaces within the
-string.
+Note that when encoding more than one byte, `encode` pads from the beginning to
+an even number (as per the original implementation) and `decode` ignores any
+dashes or spaces within the string.
 ```rust
-let bytes: [u8; 3] = [1, 2, 3];
-let string = urbit_q::encode(&bytes); // doznec-binwes
+urbit_q::encode(&[1]); // nec
+let string = urbit_q::encode(&[1, 2, 3]); // doznec-binwes
 urbit_q::decode(&string).unwrap(); // [0, 1, 2, 3]
 urbit_q::decode("doz nec bin wes"); // Some([0, 1, 2, 3])
 urbit_q::decode("do-z ne cb inwes"); // Some([0, 1, 2, 3])
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index afa1dc8..6c0e641 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -4,12 +4,12 @@
 //!
 //! ## usage
 //!
-//! Note that `encode` pads the beginning to an even number of bytes (as per the
-//! original implementation) and `decode` ignores any dashes or spaces within the
-//! string.
+//! Note that when encoding more than one byte, `encode` pads from the beginning to
+//! an even number (as per the original implementation) and `decode` ignores any
+//! dashes or spaces within the string.
 //! ```rust
-//! let bytes: [u8; 3] = [1, 2, 3];
-//! let string = urbit_q::encode(&bytes); // doznec-binwes
+//! urbit_q::encode(&[1]); // nec
+//! let string = urbit_q::encode(&[1, 2, 3]); // doznec-binwes
 //! urbit_q::decode(&string).unwrap(); // [0, 1, 2, 3]
 //! urbit_q::decode("doz nec bin wes"); // Some([0, 1, 2, 3])
 //! urbit_q::decode("do-z ne cb inwes"); // Some([0, 1, 2, 3])
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@ mod consts;
 /// decode(&string).unwrap(); // [0, 1, 2, 3]
 /// ```
 pub fn encode(input: &[u8]) -> String {
+    if input.len() == 0 {
+        return String::new();
+    }
+    if input.len() == 1 {
+        return String::from(consts::SUFFIXES[input[0] as usize]);
+    }
     let should_pad = input.len() % 2 != 0;
     let length = input.len() + should_pad as usize;
     let dashes = if input.len() > 2 { length / 2 - 1 } else { 0 };
@@ -73,6 +79,9 @@ pub fn decode(input: &str) -> Option<Vec<u8>> {
         return None;
     }
     let stripped_input = input.replace(&['-', ' '][..], "");
+    if stripped_input.len() == 3 {
+        return Some(vec![*consts::SUFFIXES_MAP.get(&stripped_input[..])?]);
+    }
     if stripped_input.len() % 3 != 0 {
         return None;
     }
diff --git a/tests/manual.rs b/tests/manual.rs
index ffe9e74..bffa36d 100644
--- a/tests/manual.rs
+++ b/tests/manual.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,31 @@
 #[test]
 fn readme() {
-    let bytes: [u8; 3] = [1, 2, 3];
-    let string = urbit_q::encode(&bytes);
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::encode(&[1]), "nec");
+    let string = urbit_q::encode(&[1, 2, 3]);
     assert_eq!(string, "doznec-binwes");
     assert_eq!(urbit_q::decode(&string).unwrap(), vec![0, 1, 2, 3]);
     assert_eq!(urbit_q::decode("doz nec bin wes"), Some(vec!(0, 1, 2, 3)));
     assert_eq!(urbit_q::decode("do-z ne cb inwes"), Some(vec!(0, 1, 2, 3)));
     assert_eq!(urbit_q::decode("hello world"), None);
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn simple() {
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::encode(&[]), "");
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::decode(""), Some(vec![]));
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::encode(&[0]), "zod");
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::decode("zod"), Some(vec![0]));
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::encode(&[1]), "nec");
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::decode("nec"), Some(vec![1]));
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::encode(&[1, 2]), "marbud");
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::decode("marbud"), Some(vec![1, 2]));
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::encode(&[1, 2, 3]), "doznec-binwes");
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::decode("doznec-binwes"), Some(vec![0, 1, 2, 3]));
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::encode(&[1, 2, 3, 4]), "marbud-wansev");
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::decode("marbud-wansev"), Some(vec![1, 2, 3, 4]));
+    assert_eq!(urbit_q::encode(&[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]), "doznec-binwes-samper");
+    assert_eq!(
+        urbit_q::decode("doznec-binwes-samper"),
+        Some(vec![0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5])
+    );
+}
diff --git a/tests/proptest.rs b/tests/proptest.rs
index 6108635..63d560d 100644
--- a/tests/proptest.rs
+++ b/tests/proptest.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ proptest! {
     #[test]
     fn roundtrip(bytes: Vec<u8>) {
         let mut padded = bytes.clone();
-        if padded.len() % 2 != 0{
+        if padded.len() != 1 && padded.len() % 2 != 0 {
            padded.insert(0, 0);
         }
         let tripped = decode(&encode(&bytes)).unwrap();