diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 1ae81a34e1..add840f217 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
     "joi": "^8.0.2",
     "lodash.get": "^4.0.0",
     "lodash.set": "^4.0.0",
-    "peer-id": "^0.5.0",
+    "peer-id": "^0.6.0",
     "ronin": "^0.3.11",
     "temp": "^0.8.3"
   }
diff --git a/src/ipfs-core/index.js b/src/ipfs-core/index.js
index 9edca67501..e225296abe 100644
--- a/src/ipfs-core/index.js
+++ b/src/ipfs-core/index.js
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ function IPFS (repo) {
         var pid = peerId.createFromPrivKey(config.Identity.PrivKey)
         callback(null, {
           ID: config.Identity.PeerID,
-          PublicKey: pid.pubKey,
+          PublicKey: pid.pubKey.toString('base64'),
           Addresses: config.Addresses,
           AgentVersion: 'js-ipfs',
           ProtocolVersion: '9000'