diff --git a/dist/bert.js b/dist/bert.js
index a9a08b6..57c802a 100644
--- a/dist/bert.js
+++ b/dist/bert.js
@@ -335,8 +335,9 @@ export class Bert {
         };
     };
     decode_string = (buffer) => {
-        const size = this.bytesToInt(buffer, 2, true);
-        buffer = buffer.subarray(2);
+        const sizeLen = this.convention == Lang.ELIXIR ? 4 : 2;
+        const size = this.bytesToInt(buffer, sizeLen, true);
+        buffer = buffer.subarray(sizeLen);
         return {
             value: buffer.toString("utf8", 0, size),
             rest: buffer.subarray(size),
@@ -345,7 +346,7 @@ export class Bert {
     decode_list = (buffer) => {
         const arr = [];
         const size = this.bytesToInt(buffer, 4, true);
-        buffer = Buffer.from(buffer, 4);
+        buffer = buffer.subarray(4);
         for (let i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
             const el = this.#decode(buffer);
             arr.push(el.value);
diff --git a/src/bert.ts b/src/bert.ts
index fbfd387..dfcb284 100644
--- a/src/bert.ts
+++ b/src/bert.ts
@@ -391,9 +391,9 @@ export class Bert {
     };
 
     decode_string = (buffer: Buffer) => {
-        const size = this.bytesToInt(buffer, 2, true);
-
-        buffer = buffer.subarray(2);
+        const sizeLen  = this.convention == Lang.ELIXIR ? 4 : 2;
+        const size = this.bytesToInt(buffer, sizeLen, true);
+        buffer = buffer.subarray(sizeLen);
 
         return {
             value: buffer.toString("utf8", 0, size),
@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ export class Bert {
     decode_list = (buffer: Buffer) => {
         const arr = [];
         const size = this.bytesToInt(buffer, 4, true);
-        buffer = Buffer.from(buffer, 4);
+        buffer = buffer.subarray(4);
 
         for (let i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
             const el = this.#decode(buffer);