diff --git a/gmime/gmime-encodings.c b/gmime/gmime-encodings.c
index df979f46..f9f1ddea 100644
--- a/gmime/gmime-encodings.c
+++ b/gmime/gmime-encodings.c
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ static unsigned char gmime_base64_rank[256] = {
 	255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
 	255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
 	255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255, 62,255,255,255, 63,
-	 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+	 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61,255,255,255,  0,255,255,
 	255,  0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
 	 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,255,255,255,255,255,
 	255, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40,
@@ -382,37 +382,35 @@ g_mime_encoding_flush (GMimeEncoding *state, const char *inbuf, size_t inlen, ch
 size_t
 g_mime_encoding_base64_encode_close (const unsigned char *inbuf, size_t inlen, unsigned char *outbuf, int *state, guint32 *save)
 {
-	register unsigned char *outptr = outbuf;
-	register int quartets;
-	unsigned char *saved;
-
+	unsigned char *outptr = outbuf;
+	int c1, c2;
+	
 	if (inlen > 0)
-		outptr += g_mime_encoding_base64_encode_step (inbuf, inlen, outbuf, state, save);
-
-	saved = (unsigned char *) save;
-	quartets = *state;
-
-	if (*saved > 0) {
-		int c1 = saved[1];
-		int c2 = saved[2];
-
-		*outptr++ = base64_alphabet[c1 >> 2];
-		*outptr++ = base64_alphabet[c2 >> 4 | ((c1 & 0x3) << 4)];
-		if (*saved == 2)
-			*outptr++ = base64_alphabet[(c2 & 0x0f) << 2];
-		else
-			*outptr++ = '=';
-		*outptr++ = '=';
-		quartets++;
+		outptr += g_mime_encoding_base64_encode_step (inbuf, inlen, outptr, state, save);
+	
+	c1 = ((unsigned char *)save)[1];
+	c2 = ((unsigned char *)save)[2];
+	
+	switch (((unsigned char *)save)[0]) {
+	case 2:
+		outptr[2] = base64_alphabet [(c2 & 0x0f) << 2];
+		goto skip;
+	case 1:
+		outptr[2] = '=';
+	skip:
+		outptr[0] = base64_alphabet [c1 >> 2];
+		outptr[1] = base64_alphabet [c2 >> 4 | ((c1 & 0x3) << 4)];
+		outptr[3] = '=';
+		outptr += 4;
+		break;
 	}
-
-	if (quartets > 0)
-		*outptr++ = '\n';
-
-	*state = 0;
+	
+	*outptr++ = '\n';
+	
 	*save = 0;
-
-	return (size_t) (outptr - outbuf);
+	*state = 0;
+	
+	return (outptr - outbuf);
 }
 
 
@@ -436,74 +434,71 @@ g_mime_encoding_base64_encode_step (const unsigned char *inbuf, size_t inlen, un
 {
 	register const unsigned char *inptr;
 	register unsigned char *outptr;
-	register int quartets;
-	unsigned char *saved;
-	size_t remaining;
-
+	
 	if (inlen == 0)
 		return 0;
-
-	saved = (unsigned char *) save;
-	quartets = *state;
+	
 	outptr = outbuf;
 	inptr = inbuf;
-
-	if (inlen + *saved > 2) {
+	
+	if (inlen + ((unsigned char *)save)[0] > 2) {
 		const unsigned char *inend = inbuf + inlen - 2;
-		register int c1, c2, c3;
-
-		c1 = *saved < 1 ? *inptr++ : saved[1];
-		c2 = *saved < 2 ? *inptr++ : saved[2];
-		c3 = *inptr++;
-
-	  loop:
-		/* encode our triplet into a quartet */
-		*outptr++ = base64_alphabet[c1 >> 2];
-		*outptr++ = base64_alphabet[(c2 >> 4) | ((c1 & 0x3) << 4)];
-		*outptr++ = base64_alphabet[((c2 & 0x0f) << 2) | (c3 >> 6)];
-		*outptr++ = base64_alphabet[c3 & 0x3f];
-
-		/* encode 19 quartets per line */
-		if ((++quartets) >= 19) {
-			*outptr++ = '\n';
-			quartets = 0;
+		register int c1 = 0, c2 = 0, c3 = 0;
+		register int already;
+		
+		already = *state;
+		
+		switch (((char *)save)[0]) {
+		case 1:	c1 = ((unsigned char *)save)[1]; goto skip1;
+		case 2:	c1 = ((unsigned char *)save)[1];
+			c2 = ((unsigned char *)save)[2]; goto skip2;
 		}
-
-		if (inptr >= inend)
-			goto loop_exit;
-
-		c1 = *inptr++;
-		c2 = *inptr++;
-		c3 = *inptr++;
-		goto loop;
-
-	  loop_exit:
-		remaining = 2 - (size_t) (inptr - inend);
-		*save = 0;
-	} else {
-		remaining = inlen;
+		
+		/* yes, we jump into the loop, no i'm not going to change it, its beautiful! */
+		while (inptr < inend) {
+			c1 = *inptr++;
+		skip1:
+			c2 = *inptr++;
+		skip2:
+			c3 = *inptr++;
+			*outptr++ = base64_alphabet [c1 >> 2];
+			*outptr++ = base64_alphabet [(c2 >> 4) | ((c1 & 0x3) << 4)];
+			*outptr++ = base64_alphabet [((c2 & 0x0f) << 2) | (c3 >> 6)];
+			*outptr++ = base64_alphabet [c3 & 0x3f];
+			/* this is a bit ugly ... */
+			if ((++already) >= 19) {
+				*outptr++ = '\n';
+				already = 0;
+			}
+		}
+		
+		((unsigned char *)save)[0] = 0;
+		inlen = 2 - (inptr - inend);
+		*state = already;
 	}
-
-	if (remaining > 0) {
-		/* At this point, saved can only be 0 or 1. */
-		if (*saved == 0) {
-			/* We can have up to 2 remaining input bytes. */
-			saved[0] = (unsigned char) remaining;
-			saved[1] = *inptr++;
-			if (remaining == 2)
-				saved[2] = *inptr;
-			else
-				saved[2] = 0;
-		} else {
-			/* We have 1 remaining input byte. */
-			saved[2] = *inptr;
-			saved[0] = 2;
+	
+	d(printf ("state = %d, inlen = %d\n", (int)((char *)save)[0], inlen));
+	
+	if (inlen > 0) {
+		register char *saveout;
+		
+		/* points to the slot for the next char to save */
+		saveout = & (((char *)save)[1]) + ((char *)save)[0];
+		
+		/* inlen can only be 0, 1 or 2 */
+		switch (inlen) {
+		case 2:	*saveout++ = *inptr++;
+		case 1:	*saveout++ = *inptr++;
 		}
+		((char *)save)[0] += (char) inlen;
 	}
-
-	*state = quartets;
-
-	return (size_t) (outptr - outbuf);
+	
+	d(printf ("mode = %d\nc1 = %c\nc2 = %c\n",
+		  (int)((char *)save)[0],
+		  (int)((char *)save)[1],
+		  (int)((char *)save)[2]));
+	
+	return (outptr - outbuf);
 }