diff --git a/lib/util.js b/lib/util.js
index f98bcd3..6ebad6f 100644
--- a/lib/util.js
+++ b/lib/util.js
@@ -243,15 +243,14 @@ exports.getVersionByte = function(addr){
  For POS coins - used to format wallet address for use in generation transaction's output
  */
 exports.pubkeyToScript = function(key){
-    if (key.length === 66) key = new Buffer(key, 'hex');
-    if (key.length !== 33){
+    if (key.length !== 66) {
         console.error('Invalid pubkey: ' + key);
         throw new Error();
     }
     var pubkey = new Buffer(35);
     pubkey[0] = 0x21;
     pubkey[34] = 0xac;
-    key.copy(pubkey, 1);
+    new Buffer(key, 'hex').copy(pubkey, 1);
     return pubkey;
 };