diff --git a/lib/bcoin/block.js b/lib/bcoin/block.js
index 72bbb17a..88886375 100644
--- a/lib/bcoin/block.js
+++ b/lib/bcoin/block.js
@@ -204,14 +204,13 @@ Block.prototype._verifyPartial = function _verifyPartial() {
 };
 
 Block.prototype.getMerkleRoot = function getMerkleRoot() {
-  var merkleTree = [];
+  var tree = [];
   var i, j, size, i2, hash;
 
   assert(this.subtype === 'block');
 
-  for (i = 0; i < this.txs.length; i++) {
-    merkleTree.push(this.txs[i].hash('hex'));
-  }
+  for (i = 0; i < this.txs.length; i++)
+    tree.push(this.txs[i].hash());
 
   j = 0;
   size = this.txs.length;
@@ -220,19 +219,20 @@ Block.prototype.getMerkleRoot = function getMerkleRoot() {
     for (i = 0; i < size; i += 2) {
       i2 = Math.min(i + 1, size - 1);
       if (i2 === i + 1 && i2 + 1 === size
-          && merkleTree[j + i] === merkleTree[j + i2]) {
+          && tree[j + i] === tree[j + i2]) {
         return utils.toHex(constants.zeroHash);
       }
-      hash = utils.dsha256(merkleTree[j + i] + merkleTree[j + i2], 'hex');
-      merkleTree.push(utils.toHex(hash));
+      hash = Buffer.concat([tree[j + i], tree[j + i2]]);
+      hash = utils.dsha256(hash);
+      tree.push(hash);
     }
     j += size;
   }
 
-  if (!merkleTree.length)
+  if (!tree.length)
     return utils.toHex(constants.zeroHash);
 
-  return merkleTree[merkleTree.length - 1];
+  return utils.toHex(tree[tree.length - 1]);
 };
 
 Block.prototype._verify = function _verify() {