diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 3198bc71e..106868563 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 - don't watch Sent folder by default #3025
 - use webxdc app name in chatlist/quotes/replies etc. #3027
 - refactorings #3023
+- remove direct dependency on `byteorder` crate #3031
 
 
 ## 1.72.0
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 791387c4f..a0016211f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1077,7 +1077,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "backtrace",
  "base64 0.13.0",
  "bitflags",
- "byteorder",
  "chrono",
  "criterion",
  "deltachat_derive",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index adb060993..abfd18cb9 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -30,7 +30,6 @@ async-trait = "0.1"
 backtrace = "0.3"
 base64 = "0.13"
 bitflags = "1.3"
-byteorder = "1.3"
 chrono = "0.4"
 dirs = { version = "4", optional=true }
 email = { git = "https://github.com/deltachat/rust-email", branch = "master" }
diff --git a/src/dc_tools.rs b/src/dc_tools.rs
index 4c3a1e48a..2824b6e11 100644
--- a/src/dc_tools.rs
+++ b/src/dc_tools.rs
@@ -195,44 +195,26 @@ async fn maybe_warn_on_outdated(context: &Context, now: i64, approx_compile_time
 }
 
 /* Message-ID tools */
+
+/// Generate an ID. The generated ID should be as short and as unique as possible:
+/// - short, because it may also used as part of Message-ID headers or in QR codes
+/// - unique as two IDs generated on two devices should not be the same. However, collisions are not world-wide but only by the few contacts.
+/// IDs generated by this function are 66 bit wide and are returned as 11 base64 characters.
+///
+/// Additional information when used as a message-id or group-id:
+/// - for OUTGOING messages this ID is written to the header as `Chat-Group-ID:` and is added to the message ID as Gr.<grpid>.<random>@<random>
+/// - for INCOMING messages, the ID is taken from the Chat-Group-ID-header or from the Message-ID in the In-Reply-To: or References:-Header
+/// - the group-id should be a string with the characters [a-zA-Z0-9\-_]
 pub(crate) fn dc_create_id() -> String {
-    /* generate an id. the generated ID should be as short and as unique as possible:
-    - short, because it may also used as part of Message-ID headers or in QR codes
-    - unique as two IDs generated on two devices should not be the same. However, collisions are not world-wide but only by the few contacts.
-    IDs generated by this function are 66 bit wide and are returned as 11 base64 characters.
-    If possible, RNG of OpenSSL is used.
-
-    Additional information when used as a message-id or group-id:
-    - for OUTGOING messages this ID is written to the header as `Chat-Group-ID:` and is added to the message ID as Gr.<grpid>.<random>@<random>
-    - for INCOMING messages, the ID is taken from the Chat-Group-ID-header or from the Message-ID in the In-Reply-To: or References:-Header
-    - the group-id should be a string with the characters [a-zA-Z0-9\-_] */
-
+    // ThreadRng implements CryptoRng trait and is supposed to be cryptographically secure.
     let mut rng = thread_rng();
-    let buf: [u32; 3] = [rng.gen(), rng.gen(), rng.gen()];
 
-    encode_66bits_as_base64(buf[0usize], buf[1usize], buf[2usize])
-}
+    // Generate 72 random bits.
+    let mut arr = [0u8; 9];
+    rng.fill(&mut arr[..]);
 
-/// Encode 66 bits as a base64 string.
-/// This is useful for ID generating with short strings as we save 5 character
-/// in each id compared to 64 bit hex encoding. For a typical group ID, these
-/// are 10 characters (grpid+msgid):
-///    hex:    64 bit, 4 bits/character, length = 64/4 = 16 characters
-///    base64: 64 bit, 6 bits/character, length = 64/6 = 11 characters (plus 2 additional bits)
-/// Only the lower 2 bits of `fill` are used.
-fn encode_66bits_as_base64(v1: u32, v2: u32, fill: u32) -> String {
-    use byteorder::{BigEndian, WriteBytesExt};
-
-    let mut wrapped_writer = Vec::new();
-    {
-        let mut enc = base64::write::EncoderWriter::new(&mut wrapped_writer, base64::URL_SAFE);
-        enc.write_u32::<BigEndian>(v1).unwrap();
-        enc.write_u32::<BigEndian>(v2).unwrap();
-        enc.write_u8(((fill & 0x3) as u8) << 6).unwrap();
-        enc.finish().unwrap();
-    }
-    assert_eq!(wrapped_writer.pop(), Some(b'A')); // Remove last "A"
-    String::from_utf8(wrapped_writer).unwrap()
+    // Take 11 base64 characters containing 66 random bits.
+    base64::encode(&arr).chars().take(11).collect()
 }
 
 /// Function generates a Message-ID that can be used for a new outgoing message.
@@ -780,26 +762,6 @@ Hop: From: hq5.example.org; By: hq5.example.org; Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2021 11:21:22
         assert_eq!(buf.len(), 11);
     }
 
-    #[test]
-    fn test_encode_66bits_as_base64() {
-        assert_eq!(
-            encode_66bits_as_base64(0x01234567, 0x89abcdef, 0),
-            "ASNFZ4mrze8"
-        );
-        assert_eq!(
-            encode_66bits_as_base64(0x01234567, 0x89abcdef, 1),
-            "ASNFZ4mrze9"
-        );
-        assert_eq!(
-            encode_66bits_as_base64(0x01234567, 0x89abcdef, 2),
-            "ASNFZ4mrze-"
-        );
-        assert_eq!(
-            encode_66bits_as_base64(0x01234567, 0x89abcdef, 3),
-            "ASNFZ4mrze_"
-        );
-    }
-
     #[test]
     fn test_dc_extract_grpid_from_rfc724_mid() {
         // Should return None if we pass invalid mid