diff --git a/lib/bcoin/utils.js b/lib/bcoin/utils.js
index 96f4f866..bdeaef15 100644
--- a/lib/bcoin/utils.js
+++ b/lib/bcoin/utils.js
@@ -832,8 +832,8 @@ utils.now = function now() {
 };
 
 utils.hash = function hash(obj, enc) {
-  if (!obj)
-    return obj;
+  if (obj == null)
+    throw new Error('Cannot get hash of null');
 
   if (typeof obj === 'string')
     return enc === 'hex' ? obj : utils.toArray(obj, 'hex');
@@ -850,5 +850,5 @@ utils.hash = function hash(obj, enc) {
   if (obj._hash)
     return hash(obj._hash, enc);
 
-  return obj;
+  throw new Error('Cannot get hash of object');
 };
diff --git a/test/utils-test.js b/test/utils-test.js
index 1a29e3f6..95ae2c4d 100644
--- a/test/utils-test.js
+++ b/test/utils-test.js
@@ -1,44 +1,66 @@
 var assert = require('assert');
 var bn = require('bn.js');
 var bcoin = require('../');
+var utils = bcoin.utils;
 
 describe('Utils', function() {
   it('should encode/decode base58', function() {
     var arr = [ 0, 0, 0, 0xde, 0xad, 0xbe, 0xef ];
-    var b = bcoin.utils.toBase58(arr);
+    var b = utils.toBase58(arr);
     assert.equal(b, '1116h8cQN');
-    assert.deepEqual(bcoin.utils.fromBase58(b), arr);
+    assert.deepEqual(utils.fromBase58(b), arr);
   });
 
   it('should translate bits to target', function() {
     var bits = 0x1900896c;
-    var hash = bcoin.utils.toArray(
+    var hash = utils.toArray(
       '672b3f1bb11a994267ea4171069ba0aa4448a840f38e8f340000000000000000',
       'hex'
     );
-    var target = bcoin.utils.bitsToTarget(bits);
-    assert(bcoin.utils.testTarget(target, hash));
+    var target = utils.fromCompact(bits);
+    assert(utils.testTarget(target, hash));
   });
 
   it('should convert satoshi to btc', function() {
-    var btc = bcoin.utils.toBTC(new bn(5460));
+    var btc = utils.toBTC(new bn(5460));
     assert.equal(btc, '0.0000546');
-    btc = bcoin.utils.toBTC(new bn(54678).mul(new bn(1000000)));
+    btc = utils.toBTC(new bn(54678).mul(new bn(1000000)));
     assert.equal(btc, '546.78');
-    btc = bcoin.utils.toBTC(new bn(5460).mul(new bn(10000000)));
+    btc = utils.toBTC(new bn(5460).mul(new bn(10000000)));
     assert.equal(btc, '546.0');
-    btc = bcoin.utils.toBTC(new bn(5460).mul(new bn(10000000)).toArray());
+    btc = utils.toBTC(new bn(5460).mul(new bn(10000000)).toArray());
     assert.equal(btc, '546.0');
-    btc = bcoin.utils.toBTC(new bn(5460).mul(new bn(10000000)).toString('hex'));
+    btc = utils.toBTC(new bn(5460).mul(new bn(10000000)).toString('hex'));
     assert.equal(btc, '546.0');
   });
 
   it('should convert btc to satoshi', function() {
-    var btc = bcoin.utils.fromBTC('0.0000546');
+    var btc = utils.fromBTC('0.0000546');
     assert(btc.cmp(new bn(5460)) === 0);
-    btc = bcoin.utils.fromBTC('546.78');
+    btc = utils.fromBTC('546.78');
     assert(btc.cmp(new bn(54678).mul(new bn(1000000))) === 0);
-    btc = bcoin.utils.fromBTC('546.0');
+    btc = utils.fromBTC('546.0');
     assert(btc.cmp(new bn(5460).mul(new bn(10000000))) === 0);
   });
+
+  it('should convert objects to hashes', function() {
+    var b1 = '00';
+    var b2 = [0];
+    var b3 = { hash: function(enc) { return enc === 'hex' ? '00' : [0]; } };
+    var b4 = { hash: '00' };
+    var b5 = { _hash: '00' };
+    var b6 = { hash: [0] };
+    var b7 = { _hash: [0] };
+    [b1, b2, b3, b4, b5, b6, b7].forEach(function(b, i) {
+      utils.assert.equal(utils.hash(b, 'hex'), '00');
+      utils.assert(utils.isEqual(utils.hash(b), [0]));
+    });
+    var thrown = true;
+    try {
+      utils.hash(1, 'hex');
+    } catch (e) {
+      thrown = true;
+    }
+    assert.equal(thrown, true);
+  });
 });