diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 4530a53..5370b65 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [metadata]
 name = vaultpy
-version = 0.0.3
+version = 0.0.4
 author = Tim Loyer
 author_email = tloyer@apps.directemployers.org
 description = A module to parse injected Vault secrets and track their usage with Datadog.
diff --git a/vault/__init__.py b/vault/__init__.py
index c77f7d2..5174465 100644
--- a/vault/__init__.py
+++ b/vault/__init__.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ def _is_base64(s):
     Checks whether a sting has been base 64 encoded.
     """
     try:
-        return b64encode(b64decode(s)) == s
+        return b64encode(b64decode(s)) == bytes(s, "utf-8")
     except Exception:
         return False
 
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ def _load_vault_secrets() -> Dict:
     should not be called anywhere except within this module!
     """
     with open(environ["VAULT_SECRETS_PATH"]) as file:
-        contents = file.read()
+        contents = file.read().strip()
 
     if _is_base64(contents):
         contents = b64decode(contents)