diff --git a/src/aheader.rs b/src/aheader.rs
index 326c1a21e..609f70ee9 100644
--- a/src/aheader.rs
+++ b/src/aheader.rs
@@ -106,19 +106,16 @@ impl fmt::Display for Aheader {
         // adds a whitespace every 78 characters, this allows
         // email crate to wrap the lines according to RFC 5322
         // (which may insert a linebreak before every whitespace)
-        let keydata = self
-            .public_key
-            .to_base64()
-            .unwrap_or_default()
-            .chars()
-            .enumerate()
-            .fold(String::new(), |mut res, (i, c)| {
+        let keydata = self.public_key.to_base64().chars().enumerate().fold(
+            String::new(),
+            |mut res, (i, c)| {
                 if i % 78 == 78 - "keydata=".len() {
                     res.push(' ')
                 }
                 res.push(c);
                 res
-            });
+            },
+        );
         write!(fmt, " keydata={}", keydata)
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/key.rs b/src/key.rs
index 93612cee4..fd0473c08 100644
--- a/src/key.rs
+++ b/src/key.rs
@@ -48,12 +48,14 @@ pub type Result<T> = std::result::Result<T, Error>;
 pub trait DcKey: Serialize + Deserializable {
     type KeyType: Serialize + Deserializable;
 
+    /// Create a key from some bytes.
     fn from_slice(bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<Self::KeyType> {
         Ok(<Self::KeyType as Deserializable>::from_bytes(Cursor::new(
             bytes,
         ))?)
     }
 
+    /// Create a key from a base64 string.
     fn from_base64(data: &str) -> Result<Self::KeyType> {
         // strip newlines and other whitespace
         let cleaned: String = data.trim().split_whitespace().collect();
@@ -61,14 +63,16 @@ pub trait DcKey: Serialize + Deserializable {
         Self::from_slice(&bytes)
     }
 
-    fn to_base64(&self) -> Result<String> {
-        let bytes = self.to_bytes()?;
-        Ok(base64::encode(&bytes))
+    /// Serialise the key to a base64 string.
+    fn to_base64(&self) -> String {
+        // Not using Serialize::to_bytes() to make clear *why* it is
+        // safe to ignore this error.
+        // Because we write to a Vec<u8> the io::Write impls never
+        // fail and we can hide this error.
+        let mut buf = Vec::new();
+        self.to_writer(&mut buf).unwrap();
+        base64::encode(&buf)
     }
-
-    // fn verify(&self) -> Result<Self::KeyType> {
-    //     <Self as Self::KeyType>::verify(self)
-    // }
 }
 
 impl DcKey for SignedPublicKey {