diff --git a/dht/rpc.go b/dht/rpc.go
index fb8df4c..ae8af09 100644
--- a/dht/rpc.go
+++ b/dht/rpc.go
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/lbryio/lbry.go/util"
+
 	"github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew"
 	"github.com/lyoshenka/bencode"
 	log "github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
@@ -15,52 +17,49 @@ import (
 func handlePacket(dht *DHT, pkt packet) {
 	//log.Debugf("[%s] Received message from %s:%s (%d bytes) %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), pkt.raddr.IP.String(), strconv.Itoa(pkt.raddr.Port), len(pkt.data), hex.EncodeToString(pkt.data))
 
-	var data map[string]interface{}
-	err := bencode.DecodeBytes(pkt.data, &data)
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Errorf("[%s] error decoding data: %s: (%d bytes) %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), err.Error(), len(pkt.data), hex.EncodeToString(pkt.data))
+	if !util.InSlice(string(pkt.data[0:5]), []string{"d1:0i", "di0ei"}) {
+		log.Errorf("[%s] data is not a well-formatted dict: (%d bytes) %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), len(pkt.data), hex.EncodeToString(pkt.data))
 		return
 	}
 
-	msgType, ok := data[headerTypeField]
-	if !ok {
-		log.Errorf("[%s] decoded data has no message type: %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), spew.Sdump(data))
-		return
-	}
+	// TODO: test this stuff more thoroughly
 
-	switch msgType.(int64) {
-	case requestType:
+	// the following is a bit of a hack, but it lets us avoid decoding every message twice
+	// it depends on the data being a dict with 0 as the first key (so it starts with "d1:0i") and the message type as the first value
+
+	switch pkt.data[5] {
+	case '0' + requestType:
 		request := Request{}
-		err = bencode.DecodeBytes(pkt.data, &request)
+		err := bencode.DecodeBytes(pkt.data, &request)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Errorln(err)
+			log.Errorf("[%s] error decoding request: %s: (%d bytes) %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), err.Error(), len(pkt.data), hex.EncodeToString(pkt.data))
 			return
 		}
 		log.Debugf("[%s] query %s: received request from %s: %s(%s)", dht.node.id.HexShort(), request.ID.HexShort(), request.NodeID.HexShort(), request.Method, argsToString(request.Args))
 		handleRequest(dht, pkt.raddr, request)
 
-	case responseType:
+	case '0' + responseType:
 		response := Response{}
-		err = bencode.DecodeBytes(pkt.data, &response)
+		err := bencode.DecodeBytes(pkt.data, &response)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Errorln(err)
+			log.Errorf("[%s] error decoding response: %s: (%d bytes) %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), err.Error(), len(pkt.data), hex.EncodeToString(pkt.data))
 			return
 		}
 		log.Debugf("[%s] query %s: received response from %s: %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), response.ID.HexShort(), response.NodeID.HexShort(), response.ArgsDebug())
 		handleResponse(dht, pkt.raddr, response)
 
-	case errorType:
+	case '0' + errorType:
 		e := Error{}
-		err = bencode.DecodeBytes(pkt.data, &e)
+		err := bencode.DecodeBytes(pkt.data, &e)
 		if err != nil {
-			log.Errorln(err)
+			log.Errorf("[%s] error decoding error: %s: (%d bytes) %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), err.Error(), len(pkt.data), hex.EncodeToString(pkt.data))
 			return
 		}
 		log.Debugf("[%s] query %s: received error from %s: %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), e.ID.HexShort(), e.NodeID.HexShort(), e.ExceptionType)
 		handleError(dht, pkt.raddr, e)
 
 	default:
-		log.Errorf("[%s] invalid message type: %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), msgType)
+		log.Errorf("[%s] invalid message type: %s", dht.node.id.HexShort(), pkt.data[5])
 		return
 	}
 }