diff --git a/lib/couchdb.js b/lib/couchdb.js
index 72d61e6..eef790d 100644
--- a/lib/couchdb.js
+++ b/lib/couchdb.js
@@ -170,9 +170,7 @@ CouchDB.prototype.client = function (method, path, data, callback) {
     }
 
     if (this.instance.auth) {
-        var enc = new Buffer(
-            decodeURIComponent(this.instance.auth)
-        ).toString('base64');
+        var enc = new Buffer(this.instance.auth).toString('base64');
         headers.Authorization = "Basic " + enc;
     }