diff --git a/lib/base58.js b/lib/base58.js
index da977ca3c..cf1357314 100644
--- a/lib/base58.js
+++ b/lib/base58.js
@@ -3,8 +3,15 @@ var bs58 = require('bs58');
 var Base58 = function Base58(obj) {
   if (!(this instanceof Base58))
     return new Base58(obj);
-  if (obj)
+  if (Buffer.isBuffer(obj)) {
+    var buf = obj;
+    this.fromBuffer(buf);
+  } else if (typeof obj === 'string') {
+    var str = obj;
+    this.fromString(str);
+  } else if (obj) {
     this.set(obj);
+  }
 };
 
 Base58.prototype.set = function(obj) {
diff --git a/test/base58.js b/test/base58.js
index fca7d9a32..11fe97607 100644
--- a/test/base58.js
+++ b/test/base58.js
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ describe('Base58', function() {
     should.exist(b58);
   });
 
+  it('should allow this handy syntax', function() {
+    Base58(buf).toString().should.equal(enc);
+    Base58(enc).toBuffer().toString('hex').should.equal(buf.toString('hex'))
+  });
+
   describe('#set', function() {
     
     it('should set a blank buffer', function() {