diff --git a/js/privatebin.js b/js/privatebin.js
index b0267d49..abc89409 100644
--- a/js/privatebin.js
+++ b/js/privatebin.js
@@ -1140,7 +1140,9 @@ jQuery.PrivateBin = (function($, RawDeflate) {
 
                 // version 2 uses base58, version 1 uses base64 without decoding
                 try {
-                    symmetricKey = CryptTool.base58decode(newKey);
+                    // base58 encode strips NULL bytes at the beginning of the
+                    // string, so we re-add them if necessary
+                    symmetricKey = CryptTool.base58decode(newKey).padStart(32, '\u0000');
                 } catch(e) {
                     symmetricKey = newKey;
                 }
diff --git a/js/test/Model.js b/js/test/Model.js
index f9da34a3..57aa22ec 100644
--- a/js/test/Model.js
+++ b/js/test/Model.js
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ describe('Model', function () {
             jsc.array(common.jscQueryString()),
             'nestring',
             function (schema, address, query, fragment) {
-                const fragmentString = common.btoa(fragment.padStart(32, String.fromCharCode(0)));
+                const fragmentString = common.btoa(fragment.padStart(32, '\u0000'));
                 let clean = jsdom('', {
                         url: schema.join('') + '://' + address.join('') +
                              '/?' + query.join('') + '#' + fragmentString
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ describe('Model', function () {
             'nestring',
             jsc.array(common.jscHashString()),
             function (schema, address, query, fragment, trail) {
-                const fragmentString = common.btoa(fragment.padStart(32, String.fromCharCode(0)));
+                const fragmentString = common.btoa(fragment.padStart(32, '\u0000'));
                 let clean = jsdom('', {
                         url: schema.join('') + '://' + address.join('') + '/?' +
                              query.join('') + '#' + fragmentString + '&' + trail.join('')
@@ -175,14 +175,8 @@ describe('Model', function () {
             jsc.array(common.jscQueryString()),
             'nestring',
             function (schema, address, query, fragment) {
-                // base58 strips leading NULL bytes
-                while(fragment.charAt(0) === '\u0000') {
-                    fragment = fragment.substr(1);
-                }
-                // string may not be empty (when only NULL bytes and trimmed)
-                if (fragment.length === 0) {
-                    return true;
-                }
+                // base58 strips leading NULL bytes, so the string is padded with these if not found
+                fragment = fragment.padStart(32, '\u0000');
                 let fragmentString = $.PrivateBin.CryptTool.base58encode(fragment),
                     clean = jsdom('', {
                         url: schema.join('') + '://' + address.join('') +
@@ -202,14 +196,8 @@ describe('Model', function () {
             'nestring',
             jsc.array(common.jscHashString()),
             function (schema, address, query, fragment, trail) {
-                // base58 strips leading NULL bytes
-                while(fragment.charAt(0) === '\u0000') {
-                    fragment = fragment.substr(1);
-                }
-                // string may not be empty (when only NULL bytes and trimmed)
-                if (fragment.length === 0) {
-                    return true;
-                }
+                // base58 strips leading NULL bytes, so the string is padded with these if not found
+                fragment = fragment.padStart(32, '\u0000');
                 let fragmentString = $.PrivateBin.CryptTool.base58encode(fragment),
                     clean = jsdom('', {
                         url: schema.join('') + '://' + address.join('') + '/?' +
diff --git a/tpl/bootstrap.php b/tpl/bootstrap.php
index 8bc033a0..25f308c7 100644
--- a/tpl/bootstrap.php
+++ b/tpl/bootstrap.php
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ if ($MARKDOWN):
 endif;
 ?>
 		<script type="text/javascript" data-cfasync="false" src="js/purify-1.0.7.js" integrity="sha512-VnKJHLosO8z2ojNvWk9BEKYqnhZyWK9rM90FgZUUEp/PRnUqR5OLLKE0a3BkVmn7YgB7LXRrjHgFHQYKd6DAIA==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
-		<script type="text/javascript" data-cfasync="false" src="js/privatebin.js?<?php echo rawurlencode($VERSION); ?>" integrity="sha512-TSifriilo4vMoDqvA2clM4dX0ywBJnYZTnx417dJYydyAfu1sH3WIR5DhqxrAyn1p4wo1pS0z2JbyoDxRSO7Zg==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
+		<script type="text/javascript" data-cfasync="false" src="js/privatebin.js?<?php echo rawurlencode($VERSION); ?>" integrity="sha512-30YZX80ZfNAAMVDZdnHCp8rY1X66o9LhQ1LShA0JqGtFfvboDuoX9z9fuv/gIvo/MBs8qH6/14omf0bFlmnXkg==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
 		<!--[if lt IE 10]>
 		<style type="text/css">body {padding-left:60px;padding-right:60px;} #ienotice {display:block;} #oldienotice {display:block;}</style>
 		<![endif]-->
diff --git a/tpl/page.php b/tpl/page.php
index 4d88b0db..82d365ad 100644
--- a/tpl/page.php
+++ b/tpl/page.php
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ if ($MARKDOWN):
 endif;
 ?>
 		<script type="text/javascript" data-cfasync="false" src="js/purify-1.0.7.js" integrity="sha512-VnKJHLosO8z2ojNvWk9BEKYqnhZyWK9rM90FgZUUEp/PRnUqR5OLLKE0a3BkVmn7YgB7LXRrjHgFHQYKd6DAIA==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
-		<script type="text/javascript" data-cfasync="false" src="js/privatebin.js?<?php echo rawurlencode($VERSION); ?>" integrity="sha512-TSifriilo4vMoDqvA2clM4dX0ywBJnYZTnx417dJYydyAfu1sH3WIR5DhqxrAyn1p4wo1pS0z2JbyoDxRSO7Zg==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
+		<script type="text/javascript" data-cfasync="false" src="js/privatebin.js?<?php echo rawurlencode($VERSION); ?>" integrity="sha512-30YZX80ZfNAAMVDZdnHCp8rY1X66o9LhQ1LShA0JqGtFfvboDuoX9z9fuv/gIvo/MBs8qH6/14omf0bFlmnXkg==" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>
 		<!--[if lt IE 10]>
 		<style type="text/css">body {padding-left:60px;padding-right:60px;} #ienotice {display:block;} #oldienotice {display:block;}</style>
 		<![endif]-->