diff --git a/dist/bert.js b/dist/bert.js
index d20de81..2ce3fa1 100644
--- a/dist/bert.js
+++ b/dist/bert.js
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ export class Bert {
     };
     decode_atom = (buffer, count) => {
         const size = this.bytesToInt(buffer, count, true);
-        buffer = Buffer.from(buffer, count);
+        buffer = buffer.subarray(count);
         let value = buffer.toString("utf8", 0, size);
         if (value === "true") {
             value = true;
diff --git a/src/bert.ts b/src/bert.ts
index abae584..e340725 100644
--- a/src/bert.ts
+++ b/src/bert.ts
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ export class Bert {
 
     decode_atom = (buffer: Buffer, count: 1 | 2 | 4) => {
         const size = this.bytesToInt(buffer, count, true);
-        buffer = Buffer.from(buffer, count);
+        buffer = buffer.subarray(count);
         let value: any = buffer.toString("utf8", 0, size);
         if (value === "true") {
             value = true;