diff --git a/lib/message_bus/message.rb b/lib/message_bus/message.rb
index ee988bf5..5bc4965d 100644
--- a/lib/message_bus/message.rb
+++ b/lib/message_bus/message.rb
@@ -5,15 +5,15 @@ class MessageBus::Message < Struct.new(:global_id, :message_id, :channel, :data)
   attr_accessor :site_id, :user_ids, :group_ids, :client_ids
 
   def self.decode(encoded)
-    s1 = encoded.index("|")
-    s2 = encoded.index("|", s1 + 1)
-    s3 = encoded.index("|", s2 + 1)
+    s1 = encoded.byteindex("|")
+    s2 = encoded.byteindex("|", s1 + 1)
+    s3 = encoded.byteindex("|", s2 + 1)
 
-    global_id  = encoded[0, s1 + 1].to_i
-    message_id = encoded[(s1 + 1), (s2 - s1 - 1)].to_i
-    channel    = encoded[(s2 + 1), (s3 - s2 - 1)]
-    channel.gsub!("$$123$$", "|")
-    data = encoded[(s3 + 1), encoded.size]
+    global_id  = encoded.to_i
+    message_id = encoded.byteslice(s1 + 1, s2 - s1 - 1).to_i
+    channel    = encoded.byteslice(s2 + 1, s3 - s2 - 1)
+    channel.gsub!("$$123$$", "|") if channel.include?("$$123$$")
+    data = encoded.byteslice(s3 + 1, encoded.bytesize - s3 - 1)
 
     MessageBus::Message.new(global_id, message_id, channel, data)
   end