diff --git a/benches/bench.rs b/benches/bench.rs
index 22c1d40..d4883d8 100644
--- a/benches/bench.rs
+++ b/benches/bench.rs
@@ -8,10 +8,12 @@ use criterion::Criterion;
 use byte_ngram::*;
 
 fn criterion_benchmark(c: &mut Criterion) {
-    let data = b"Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer extortion. The 'x' makes it sound cool.";
+    let data = "Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer extortion. The 'x' makes it sound cool.";
 
-    c.bench_function("from_slice", |b| b.iter(|| for _ in from_slice(&data[..]) {}));
-    c.bench_function("ByteNgramReader", |b| b.iter(|| for _ in ByteNgramReader::new(&data[..]) {}));
+    let len = from_slice(&data[..]).len();
+
+    c.bench_function("from_slice", |b| b.iter(|| assert_eq!(len, from_slice(&data[..]).len())));
+    c.bench_function("ByteNgramReader", |b| b.iter(|| assert_eq!(len, ByteNgramReader::new(&data).count())));
 }
 
 criterion_group!(benches, criterion_benchmark);
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 00d0fcc..2ef8b82 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate serde_derive;
 
-use std::io::{Bytes, Read};
 use std::fmt;
 use std::cmp;
 use std::ops;
 use std::convert;
+use std::slice::Iter;
 
 #[derive(Hash, PartialEq, Eq, Clone, Copy, PartialOrd, Ord, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 pub struct ByteNgram(u64);
@@ -90,18 +90,18 @@ impl convert::From<u64> for ByteNgram {
     }
 }
 
-pub struct ByteNgramReader<R: Read> {
-    inner: Bytes<R>,
+pub struct ByteNgramReader<'a> {
+    inner: Iter<'a, u8>,
     count: u64,
     token: u64,
     mask: u64,
 }
 
-impl<R: Read> ByteNgramReader<R> {
+impl<'a> ByteNgramReader<'a> {
     #[inline]
-    pub fn new(inner: R) -> Self {
+    pub fn new<T: 'a>(inner: &'a T) -> Self where T: AsRef<[u8]>  {
         ByteNgramReader {
-            inner: inner.bytes(),
+            inner: inner.as_ref().iter(),
             count: 0,
             token: 0,
             mask: 0,
@@ -109,14 +109,14 @@ impl<R: Read> ByteNgramReader<R> {
     }
 }
 
-impl<R: Read> Iterator for ByteNgramReader<R> {
+impl<'a> Iterator for ByteNgramReader<'a> {
     type Item = ByteNgram;
 
     #[inline]
     fn next(&mut self) -> Option<Self::Item> {
         if self.mask == 0 {
-            if let Some(Ok(byte)) = self.inner.next() {
-                self.token += u64::from(byte);
+            if let Some(byte) = self.inner.next() {
+                self.token += u64::from(*byte);
                 self.token <<= 8;
 
                 if self.count < 6 {
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ mod tests {
         let data = b"abc";
 
         let mut a = from_slice(&data);
-        let mut b = ByteNgramReader::new(&data[..]).collect::<Vec<_>>();
+        let mut b = ByteNgramReader::new(&data).collect::<Vec<_>>();
 
         assert_eq!(a.len(), b.len());