diff --git a/exodus_lambda/functions/origin_request.py b/exodus_lambda/functions/origin_request.py
index daa75801..c79d37a8 100755
--- a/exodus_lambda/functions/origin_request.py
+++ b/exodus_lambda/functions/origin_request.py
@@ -66,9 +66,8 @@ def definitions(self):
             )
             if query_result["Items"]:
                 item = query_result["Items"][0]
-                if item_encoded := item["config"].get("B"):
+                if item_bytes := item["config"].get("B"):
                     # new-style: config is compressed and stored as bytes
-                    item_bytes = b64decode(item_encoded)
                     item_json = gzip.decompress(item_bytes).decode()
                 else:
                     # old-style, config was stored as JSON string.
diff --git a/tests/functions/test_origin_request.py b/tests/functions/test_origin_request.py
index 02ad523e..e222b7ab 100644
--- a/tests/functions/test_origin_request.py
+++ b/tests/functions/test_origin_request.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import gzip
 import json
 import logging
-from base64 import b64encode
 from urllib.parse import unquote, urlencode
 
 import mock
@@ -349,13 +348,14 @@ def test_origin_request_invalid_item(
 def test_origin_request_definitions(mocked_boto3_client, binary_config: bool):
     mocked_defs = mock_definitions()
     json_defs = json.dumps(mocked_defs)
+    config: dict[str, str | bytes] = {}
 
     if binary_config:
         # Config in the style exodus-gw writes from late 2024 onwards
-        config = {"B": b64encode(gzip.compress(json_defs.encode())).decode()}
+        config["B"] = gzip.compress(json_defs.encode())
     else:
         # Older-style config
-        config = {"S": json_defs}
+        config["S"] = json_defs
 
     mocked_boto3_client().query.return_value = {
         "Items": [