diff --git a/lib/util.js b/lib/util.js
index 2ccf4d9..62f7146 100644
--- a/lib/util.js
+++ b/lib/util.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ var bignum = require('bignum');
 
 exports.addressFromEx = function(exAddress, ripdm160Key){
     try {
-        var versionByte = base58.decode(exAddress).slice(0, 1);
+        var versionByte = exports.getVersionByte(exAddress);
         var addrBase = Buffer.concat([versionByte, new Buffer(ripdm160Key, 'hex')]);
         var checksum = exports.sha256d(addrBase).slice(0, 4);
         var address = Buffer.concat([addrBase, checksum]);
@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ exports.addressFromEx = function(exAddress, ripdm160Key){
 };
 
 
+exports.getVersionByte = function(addr){
+    var versionByte = base58.decode(addr).slice(0, 1);
+    return versionByte;
+};
+
 exports.sha256 = function(buffer){
     var hash1 = crypto.createHash('sha256');
     hash1.update(buffer);
@@ -230,9 +235,6 @@ exports.range = function(start, stop, step){
 };
 
 
-exports.getVersionByte = function(addr){
-    return base58.decode(addr)[0];
-};
 
 
 /*