diff --git a/JWT/JWT.cs b/JWT/JWT.cs
index 27cbb86cd..0ee2b1eab 100755
--- a/JWT/JWT.cs
+++ b/JWT/JWT.cs
@@ -186,13 +186,26 @@ public static string Decode(string token, string key, bool verify = true)
         /// <param name="verify">Whether to verify the signature (default is true).</param>
         /// <returns>An object representing the payload.</returns>
         /// <exception cref="SignatureVerificationException">Thrown if the verify parameter was true and the signature was NOT valid or if the JWT was signed with an unsupported algorithm.</exception>
-        public static object DecodeToObject(string token, string key, bool verify = true)
+        public static object DecodeToObject(string token, byte[] key, bool verify = true)
         {
             var payloadJson = JsonWebToken.Decode(token, key, verify);
             var payloadData = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<Dictionary<string, object>>(payloadJson);
             return payloadData;
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Given a JWT, decode it and return the payload as an object (by deserializing it with <see cref="System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer"/>).
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="token">The JWT.</param>
+        /// <param name="key">The key that was used to sign the JWT.</param>
+        /// <param name="verify">Whether to verify the signature (default is true).</param>
+        /// <returns>An object representing the payload.</returns>
+        /// <exception cref="SignatureVerificationException">Thrown if the verify parameter was true and the signature was NOT valid or if the JWT was signed with an unsupported algorithm.</exception>
+        public static object DecodeToObject(string token, string key, bool verify = true)
+        {
+            return DecodeToObject(token, Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(key), verify);
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Given a JWT, decode it and return the payload as an object (by deserializing it with <see cref="System.Web.Script.Serialization.JavaScriptSerializer"/>).
         /// </summary>