diff --git a/neon_mq_connector/utils/network_utils.py b/neon_mq_connector/utils/network_utils.py
index 9e6d6ff..e20f4f2 100644
--- a/neon_mq_connector/utils/network_utils.py
+++ b/neon_mq_connector/utils/network_utils.py
@@ -27,9 +27,10 @@
 # SOFTWARE,  EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
 import json
-import base64
 import socket
 
+from pybase64 import b64encode, b64decode
+
 """
 These utils are duplicated from neon_utils.socket_utils to avoid a circular
 dependency.
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ def b64_to_dict(data: bytes, charset: str = "utf-8") -> dict:
 
         @return decoded dictionary
     """
-    return eval(json.loads(base64.b64decode(data).decode(charset)))
+    return eval(json.loads(b64decode(data).decode(charset)))
 
 
 def dict_to_b64(data: dict, charset: str = "utf-8") -> bytes:
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ def dict_to_b64(data: dict, charset: str = "utf-8") -> bytes:
 
         @return base64 encoded string
     """
-    return base64.b64encode(json.dumps(str(data)).encode(charset))
+    return b64encode(json.dumps(str(data)).encode(charset))
 
 
 def check_port_is_open(addr: str, port: int) -> bool:
diff --git a/requirements/requirements.txt b/requirements/requirements.txt
index 5ff8a05..75a5404 100644
--- a/requirements/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements/requirements.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 pika==1.2.0
 ovos-config~=0.0,>=0.0.8
 ovos-utils~=0.0,>=0.0.32
+pybase64~=1.4
\ No newline at end of file