diff --git a/src/service/p2p.ts b/src/service/p2p.ts
index 1a4ac84..ae83b6d 100644
--- a/src/service/p2p.ts
+++ b/src/service/p2p.ts
@@ -87,7 +87,9 @@ export class P2PService extends EventEmitter {
 
   async init(): Promise<void> {
     this.localNodeId = new NodeId(this.nodeKeyPair.publicKey); // Define the NodeId constructor
-    this.nodesDb = this._node.db.sublevel<string, Uint8Array>("s5-nodes", {});
+    this.nodesDb = this._node.db.sublevel<string, Uint8Array>("s5-nodes", {
+      valueEncoding: "buffer",
+    });
   }
 
   async start(): Promise<void> {
diff --git a/src/service/registry.ts b/src/service/registry.ts
index e96a743..39b473e 100644
--- a/src/service/registry.ts
+++ b/src/service/registry.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@ export class RegistryService {
   }
 
   async init(): Promise<void> {
-    this.db = this.node.db.sublevel<string, Uint8Array>("s5-registry-db", {});
+    this.db = this.node.db.sublevel<string, Uint8Array>("s5-registry-db", {
+      valueEncoding: "buffer",
+    });
   }
 
   async set(