diff --git a/core/internal/api/cluster.go b/core/internal/api/cluster.go
index fb2c982..67fcd83 100644
--- a/core/internal/api/cluster.go
+++ b/core/internal/api/cluster.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 import (
 	"context"
 	"crypto/rand"
-	"encoding/base64"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"io"
 
 	"github.com/gogo/protobuf/proto"
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, status.Error(codes.Internal, "failed to encode config")
 	}
-	if _, err := store.Put(ctx, "enrolments/"+base64.RawURLEncoding.EncodeToString(token), string(enrolmentConfigRaw)); err != nil {
+	if _, err := store.Put(ctx, "enrolments/"+hex.EncodeToString(token), string(enrolmentConfigRaw)); err != nil {
 		return nil, status.Error(codes.Unavailable, "consensus unavailable")
 	}
 	return &schema.NewEnrolmentConfigResponse{
diff --git a/core/internal/api/enrolment.go b/core/internal/api/enrolment.go
index 6bf65f4..eb892ae 100644
--- a/core/internal/api/enrolment.go
+++ b/core/internal/api/enrolment.go
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/base64"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 
 func (s *EnrolmentStore) GetBySecret(ctx context.Context, secret []byte) (*api.EnrolmentConfig, error) {
 
-	res, err := s.backend.Get(ctx, enrolmentPrefix+base64.RawURLEncoding.EncodeToString(secret))
+	res, err := s.backend.Get(ctx, enrolmentPrefix+hex.EncodeToString(secret))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to query consensus: %w", err)
 	}
diff --git a/core/internal/api/nodemanagement.go b/core/internal/api/nodemanagement.go
index f193d5c..0a3614e 100644
--- a/core/internal/api/nodemanagement.go
+++ b/core/internal/api/nodemanagement.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
 	"crypto/sha256"
 	"crypto/subtle"
 	"crypto/x509"
-	"encoding/base64"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 		return "", errors.New("invalid node identity certificate")
 	}
 
-	return "smalltown-" + base64.RawStdEncoding.EncodeToString([]byte(pubKey)), nil
+	return "smalltown-" + hex.EncodeToString([]byte(pubKey[:16])), nil
 }
 
 func (s *Server) registerNewNode(node *api.Node) error {
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@
 	newNodeInfo := newNodeInfoVariant.NewNodeInfo
 
 	store := s.getStore()
-	res, err := store.Get(registerServer.Context(), "enrolments/"+base64.RawURLEncoding.EncodeToString(newNodeInfo.EnrolmentConfig.EnrolmentSecret))
+	res, err := store.Get(registerServer.Context(), "enrolments/"+hex.EncodeToString(newNodeInfo.EnrolmentConfig.EnrolmentSecret))
 	if err != nil {
 		return status.Error(codes.Unavailable, "Consensus unavailable")
 	}