diff --git a/src/core/operations/RSASign.mjs b/src/core/operations/RSASign.mjs
index 25160f53..5091549f 100644
--- a/src/core/operations/RSASign.mjs
+++ b/src/core/operations/RSASign.mjs
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class RSASign extends Operation {
             const privateKey = forge.pki.decryptRsaPrivateKey(key, password);
             // Generate message hash
             const md = MD_ALGORITHMS[mdAlgo].create();
-            md.update(input, "utf8");
+            md.update(input, "raw");
             // Sign message hash
             const sig = privateKey.sign(md);
             return sig;
diff --git a/src/core/operations/RSAVerify.mjs b/src/core/operations/RSAVerify.mjs
index 89b7d81f..11dc0fb4 100644
--- a/src/core/operations/RSAVerify.mjs
+++ b/src/core/operations/RSAVerify.mjs
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class RSAVerify extends Operation {
             const pubKey = forge.pki.publicKeyFromPem(pemKey);
             // Generate message digest
             const md = MD_ALGORITHMS[mdAlgo].create();
-            md.update(message, "utf8");
+            md.update(message, "raw");
             // Compare signed message digest and generated message digest
             const result = pubKey.verify(md.digest().bytes(), input);
             return result ? "Verified OK" : "Verification Failure";