diff --git a/cid.go b/cid.go
index 7150ecbf799f3b37e9ee6641f44f546d7e6795b8..2b2ac707e47f25df553d3bd704f39237fcb38f4c 100644
--- a/cid.go
+++ b/cid.go
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ package cid
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding"
-	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
@@ -30,21 +29,13 @@ import (
 
 	mbase "github.com/multiformats/go-multibase"
 	mh "github.com/multiformats/go-multihash"
+	varint "github.com/multiformats/go-varint"
 )
 
 // UnsupportedVersionString just holds an error message
 const UnsupportedVersionString = "<unsupported cid version>"
 
 var (
-	// ErrVarintBuffSmall means that a buffer passed to the cid parser was not
-	// long enough, or did not contain an invalid cid
-	ErrVarintBuffSmall = errors.New("reading varint: buffer too small")
-
-	// ErrVarintTooBig means that the varint in the given cid was above the
-	// limit of 2^64
-	ErrVarintTooBig = errors.New("reading varint: varint bigger than 64bits" +
-		" and not supported")
-
 	// ErrCidTooShort means that the cid passed to decode was not long
 	// enough to be a valid Cid
 	ErrCidTooShort = errors.New("cid too short")
@@ -173,9 +164,9 @@ func NewCidV0(mhash mh.Multihash) Cid {
 func NewCidV1(codecType uint64, mhash mh.Multihash) Cid {
 	hashlen := len(mhash)
 	// two 8 bytes (max) numbers plus hash
-	buf := make([]byte, 2*binary.MaxVarintLen64+hashlen)
-	n := binary.PutUvarint(buf, 1)
-	n += binary.PutUvarint(buf[n:], codecType)
+	buf := make([]byte, 1+varint.UvarintSize(codecType)+hashlen)
+	n := varint.PutUvarint(buf, 1)
+	n += varint.PutUvarint(buf[n:], codecType)
 	cn := copy(buf[n:], mhash)
 	if cn != hashlen {
 		panic("copy hash length is inconsistent")
@@ -281,17 +272,6 @@ func ExtractEncoding(v string) (mbase.Encoding, error) {
 	return encoding, nil
 }
 
-func uvError(read int) error {
-	switch {
-	case read == 0:
-		return ErrVarintBuffSmall
-	case read < 0:
-		return ErrVarintTooBig
-	default:
-		return nil
-	}
-}
-
 // Cast takes a Cid data slice, parses it and returns a Cid.
 // For CidV1, the data buffer is in the form:
 //
@@ -351,8 +331,8 @@ func (c Cid) Type() uint64 {
 	if c.Version() == 0 {
 		return DagProtobuf
 	}
-	_, n := uvarint(c.str)
-	codec, _ := uvarint(c.str[n:])
+	_, n, _ := uvarint(c.str)
+	codec, _, _ := uvarint(c.str[n:])
 	return codec
 }
 
@@ -414,9 +394,9 @@ func (c Cid) Hash() mh.Multihash {
 	}
 
 	// skip version length
-	_, n1 := binary.Uvarint(bytes)
+	_, n1, _ := varint.FromUvarint(bytes)
 	// skip codec length
-	_, n2 := binary.Uvarint(bytes[n1:])
+	_, n2, _ := varint.FromUvarint(bytes[n1:])
 
 	return mh.Multihash(bytes[n1+n2:])
 }
@@ -562,34 +542,42 @@ func (p Prefix) Sum(data []byte) (Cid, error) {
 //
 //     <version><codec><mh-type><mh-length>
 func (p Prefix) Bytes() []byte {
-	buf := make([]byte, 4*binary.MaxVarintLen64)
-	n := binary.PutUvarint(buf, p.Version)
-	n += binary.PutUvarint(buf[n:], p.Codec)
-	n += binary.PutUvarint(buf[n:], uint64(p.MhType))
-	n += binary.PutUvarint(buf[n:], uint64(p.MhLength))
-	return buf[:n]
+	size := varint.UvarintSize(p.Version)
+	size += varint.UvarintSize(p.Codec)
+	size += varint.UvarintSize(p.MhType)
+	size += varint.UvarintSize(uint64(p.MhLength))
+
+	buf := make([]byte, size)
+	n := varint.PutUvarint(buf, p.Version)
+	n += varint.PutUvarint(buf[n:], p.Codec)
+	n += varint.PutUvarint(buf[n:], p.MhType)
+	n += varint.PutUvarint(buf[n:], uint64(p.MhLength))
+	if n != size {
+		panic("size mismatch")
+	}
+	return buf
 }
 
 // PrefixFromBytes parses a Prefix-byte representation onto a
 // Prefix.
 func PrefixFromBytes(buf []byte) (Prefix, error) {
 	r := bytes.NewReader(buf)
-	vers, err := binary.ReadUvarint(r)
+	vers, err := varint.ReadUvarint(r)
 	if err != nil {
 		return Prefix{}, err
 	}
 
-	codec, err := binary.ReadUvarint(r)
+	codec, err := varint.ReadUvarint(r)
 	if err != nil {
 		return Prefix{}, err
 	}
 
-	mhtype, err := binary.ReadUvarint(r)
+	mhtype, err := varint.ReadUvarint(r)
 	if err != nil {
 		return Prefix{}, err
 	}
 
-	mhlen, err := binary.ReadUvarint(r)
+	mhlen, err := varint.ReadUvarint(r)
 	if err != nil {
 		return Prefix{}, err
 	}
@@ -616,8 +604,8 @@ func CidFromBytes(data []byte) (int, Cid, error) {
 		return 34, Cid{string(h)}, nil
 	}
 
-	vers, n := binary.Uvarint(data)
-	if err := uvError(n); err != nil {
+	vers, n, err := varint.FromUvarint(data)
+	if err != nil {
 		return 0, Undef, err
 	}
 
@@ -625,8 +613,8 @@ func CidFromBytes(data []byte) (int, Cid, error) {
 		return 0, Undef, fmt.Errorf("expected 1 as the cid version number, got: %d", vers)
 	}
 
-	_, cn := binary.Uvarint(data[n:])
-	if err := uvError(cn); err != nil {
+	_, cn, err := varint.FromUvarint(data[n:])
+	if err != nil {
 		return 0, Undef, err
 	}
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 81a9532105bd8ce722fd8bb0d14c785b9fb82518..dd390f476c96ce5cb68b459b36aa4f92c83d3d93 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ module github.com/ipfs/go-cid
 
 require (
 	github.com/multiformats/go-multibase v0.0.1
-	github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.10
+	github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.13
+	github.com/multiformats/go-varint v0.0.5
 )
 
 go 1.13
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index b39d4831cd2cd04d258d13afcd84795b873307c3..c564628660d5fc3925cbd2807a8cddfae2c25f96 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -4,18 +4,20 @@ github.com/minio/sha256-simd v0.1.1-0.20190913151208-6de447530771 h1:MHkK1uRtFbV
 github.com/minio/sha256-simd v0.1.1-0.20190913151208-6de447530771/go.mod h1:B5e1o+1/KgNmWrSQK08Y6Z1Vb5pwIktudl0J58iy0KM=
 github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.1.0 h1:Y51FGVJ91WBqCEabAi5OPUz38eAx8DakuAm5svLcsfQ=
 github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.1.0/go.mod h1:xcD2VGqlgYjBdcBLw+TuYLr8afG+Hj8g2eTVqeSzSU8=
-github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.1.2 h1:ZEw4I2EgPKDJ2iEw0cNmLB3ROrEmkOtXIkaG7wZg+78=
-github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.1.2/go.mod h1:BinMc/sQntlIE1frQmRFPUoPA1Zkr8VRgBdjWI2mNwc=
+github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.1.3 h1:v+sk57XuaCKGXpWtVBX8YJzO7hMGx4Aajh4TQbdEFdc=
+github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.1.3/go.mod h1:BinMc/sQntlIE1frQmRFPUoPA1Zkr8VRgBdjWI2mNwc=
 github.com/multiformats/go-base32 v0.0.3 h1:tw5+NhuwaOjJCC5Pp82QuXbrmLzWg7uxlMFp8Nq/kkI=
 github.com/multiformats/go-base32 v0.0.3/go.mod h1:pLiuGC8y0QR3Ue4Zug5UzK9LjgbkL8NSQj0zQ5Nz/AA=
 github.com/multiformats/go-multibase v0.0.1 h1:PN9/v21eLywrFWdFNsFKaU04kLJzuYzmrJR+ubhT9qA=
 github.com/multiformats/go-multibase v0.0.1/go.mod h1:bja2MqRZ3ggyXtZSEDKpl0uO/gviWFaSteVbWT51qgs=
-github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.8 h1:wrYcW5yxSi3dU07n5jnuS5PrNwyHy0zRHGVoUugWvXg=
-github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.8/go.mod h1:YSLudS+Pi8NHE7o6tb3D8vrpKa63epEDmG8nTduyAew=
-github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.9 h1:aoijQXYYl7Xtb2pUUP68R+ys1TlnlR3eX6wmozr0Hp4=
-github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.9/go.mod h1:YSLudS+Pi8NHE7o6tb3D8vrpKa63epEDmG8nTduyAew=
-github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.10 h1:lMoNbh2Ssd9PUF74Nz008KGzGPlfeV6wH3rit5IIGCM=
-github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.10/go.mod h1:YSLudS+Pi8NHE7o6tb3D8vrpKa63epEDmG8nTduyAew=
+github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.12 h1:i2PQZWlsq8asUZwPS5w7VMCoUKEz/k/XG6WH30gsTU8=
+github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.12/go.mod h1:2+oRiLVLqXx+yxM/RIdhLstp1q2WMJAlQ4kdLkS3un0=
+github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.13 h1:06x+mk/zj1FoMsgNejLpy6QTvJqlSt/BhLEy87zidlc=
+github.com/multiformats/go-multihash v0.0.13/go.mod h1:VdAWLKTwram9oKAatUcLxBNUjdtcVwxObEQBtRfuyjc=
+github.com/multiformats/go-varint v0.0.4 h1:CplQWhUouUgTZ53vNFE8VoWr2VjaKXci+xyrKyyFuSw=
+github.com/multiformats/go-varint v0.0.4/go.mod h1:3Ls8CIEsrijN6+B7PbrXRPxHRPuXSrVKRY101jdMZYE=
+github.com/multiformats/go-varint v0.0.5 h1:XVZwSo04Cs3j/jS0uAEPpT3JY6DzMcVLLoWOSnCxOjg=
+github.com/multiformats/go-varint v0.0.5/go.mod h1:3Ls8CIEsrijN6+B7PbrXRPxHRPuXSrVKRY101jdMZYE=
 github.com/spaolacci/murmur3 v1.1.0 h1:7c1g84S4BPRrfL5Xrdp6fOJ206sU9y293DDHaoy0bLI=
 github.com/spaolacci/murmur3 v1.1.0/go.mod h1:JwIasOWyU6f++ZhiEuf87xNszmSA2myDM2Kzu9HwQUA=
 golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20190308221718-c2843e01d9a2/go.mod h1:djNgcEr1/C05ACkg1iLfiJU5Ep61QUkGW8qpdssI0+w=
diff --git a/varint.go b/varint.go
index 391c1f4d53944517f1fd56efefa4922cbd77a6e9..ed5eba1ad2d1cae343080ff409cbed2e73f36de6 100644
--- a/varint.go
+++ b/varint.go
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 package cid
 
+import (
+	"github.com/multiformats/go-varint"
+)
+
 // Version of varint function that work with a string rather than
 // []byte to avoid unnecessary allocation
 
@@ -15,7 +19,7 @@ package cid
 // 	n  < 0: value larger than 64 bits (overflow)
 // 	        and -n is the number of bytes read
 //
-func uvarint(buf string) (uint64, int) {
+func uvarint(buf string) (uint64, int, error) {
 	var x uint64
 	var s uint
 	// we have a binary string so we can't use a range loope
@@ -23,12 +27,14 @@ func uvarint(buf string) (uint64, int) {
 		b := buf[i]
 		if b < 0x80 {
 			if i > 9 || i == 9 && b > 1 {
-				return 0, -(i + 1) // overflow
+				return 0, 0, varint.ErrOverflow
+			} else if b == 0 && i > 0 {
+				return 0, 0, varint.ErrNotMinimal
 			}
-			return x | uint64(b)<<s, i + 1
+			return x | uint64(b)<<s, i + 1, nil
 		}
 		x |= uint64(b&0x7f) << s
 		s += 7
 	}
-	return 0, 0
+	return 0, 0, varint.ErrUnderflow
 }
diff --git a/varint_test.go b/varint_test.go
index 47bb061bf056c39fdbc9cf5edf4d911a694d1f78..de59da115f6ec2e4f25db13308c7aa1f776aa192 100644
--- a/varint_test.go
+++ b/varint_test.go
@@ -1,17 +1,25 @@
 package cid
 
 import (
-	"encoding/binary"
 	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/multiformats/go-varint"
 )
 
 func TestUvarintRoundTrip(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := []uint64{0, 1, 2, 127, 128, 129, 255, 256, 257, 1<<63 - 1}
 	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Log("testing", tc)
 		buf := make([]byte, 16)
-		binary.PutUvarint(buf, tc)
-		v, l1 := uvarint(string(buf))
-		_, l2 := binary.Uvarint(buf)
+		varint.PutUvarint(buf, tc)
+		v, l1, err := uvarint(string(buf))
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%v: %s", buf, err)
+		}
+		_, l2, err := varint.FromUvarint(buf)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
 		if tc != v {
 			t.Errorf("roundtrip failed expected %d but got %d", tc, v)
 		}