diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 88b1714..ab40529 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0
 	github.com/lib/pq v1.12.3
 	github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core v0.43.0-rc2
-	github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.3.0
 	github.com/multiformats/go-multiaddr v0.16.1
 	github.com/prometheus/client_golang v1.24.1
 	github.com/prometheus/client_model v0.6.2
@@ -363,6 +362,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/moby/term v0.5.2 // indirect
 	github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry v1.4.0 // indirect
 	github.com/moricho/tparallel v0.3.2 // indirect
+	github.com/mr-tron/base58 v1.3.0 // indirect
 	github.com/muesli/cancelreader v0.2.2 // indirect
 	github.com/muesli/mango v0.2.0 // indirect
 	github.com/muesli/mango-cobra v1.3.0 // indirect
diff --git a/pkg/net/multiaddrutil.go b/pkg/net/multiaddrutil.go
index 2ac8d2d..edbcd4b 100644
--- a/pkg/net/multiaddrutil.go
+++ b/pkg/net/multiaddrutil.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import (
 	stdnet "net"
 
 	"github.com/libp2p/go-libp2p/core/peer"
-	b58 "github.com/mr-tron/base58/base58"
 	"github.com/multiformats/go-multiaddr"
 )
 
@@ -59,12 +58,12 @@ func AddressInfoFromString(s string) (peer.AddrInfo, error) {
 	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(s), &res); err != nil {
 		return peer.AddrInfo{}, err
 	}
-	pID, err := b58.Decode(res.ID)
+	pID, err := peer.Decode(res.ID)
 	if err != nil {
 		return peer.AddrInfo{}, fmt.Errorf("failed to parse peer ID %q: %w", res.ID, err)
 	}
 	return peer.AddrInfo{
-		ID:    peer.ID(pID),
+		ID:    pID,
 		Addrs: res.Addrs,
 	}, nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/net/multiaddrutil_test.go b/pkg/net/multiaddrutil_test.go
index be68ce3..8c78edf 100644
--- a/pkg/net/multiaddrutil_test.go
+++ b/pkg/net/multiaddrutil_test.go
@@ -44,8 +44,11 @@ func TestAddressInfoToStringAndBack(t *testing.T) {
 		maList = append(maList, m)
 	}
 
+	peerID, err := peer.Decode("16Uiu2HAkxohm96jeTn18K7iKVdNDd5A2jgY1pFoj6SkegPFq6Tzb")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
 	original := peer.AddrInfo{
-		ID:    "16Uiu2HAkxohm96jeTn18K7iKVdNDd5A2jgY1pFoj6SkegPFq6Tzb",
+		ID:    peerID,
 		Addrs: maList,
 	}
 	encoded := netpkg.AddressInfoToString(original)
@@ -68,6 +71,13 @@ func TestAddressInfoFromString_InvalidID(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "failed to parse peer ID")
 }
 
+func TestAddressInfoFromString_RejectsEmptyPeerID(t *testing.T) {
+	jsonStr := `{"peerID": "", "addrs": []}`
+	_, err := netpkg.AddressInfoFromString(jsonStr)
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "failed to parse peer ID")
+}
+
 func TestAddressInfoFromString_InvalidJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	_, err := netpkg.AddressInfoFromString(`{invalid json}`)
 	require.Error(t, err)