diff --git a/lib/bcoin/keypair.js b/lib/bcoin/keypair.js
index d995c3bf..3d87616f 100644
--- a/lib/bcoin/keypair.js
+++ b/lib/bcoin/keypair.js
@@ -291,7 +291,9 @@ KeyPair.prototype.fromSecret = function fromSecret(secret) {
  * @returns {KeyPair}
  */
 
-KeyPair.fromRaw = function fromRaw(data) {
+KeyPair.fromRaw = function fromRaw(data, enc) {
+  if (typeof data === 'string')
+    data = new Buffer(data, enc);
   return new KeyPair().fromRaw(data);
 };