diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 7d910f5..16078d4 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "nebz"
-version = "0.1.2"
+version = "0.2.0"
 edition = "2024"
 description = "an immutable non-empty bytes container"
 readme = "README.md"
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index ef721ae..19c272a 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 #![cfg_attr(docsrs, feature(doc_auto_cfg))]
 
+use core::num::NonZeroUsize;
+
 /// A container to `T` that is known to be non-empty.
 ///
 /// A `T: AsRef<[u8]>` is empty if `AsRef::<[u8]>::as_ref(&T).is_empty()` is `true`.
@@ -9,9 +11,9 @@
 pub struct NonEmptyBz<T>(T);
 
 impl<T> NonEmptyBz<T> {
-	/// Creates a [`NonEmptyBz`] if the given `bz` is not empty.
+	/// Creates a `NonEmptyBz<T>` if the given `bz` is not empty.
 	///
-	/// If 'bz' is `[u8; N]` or `&[u8; N]`, consider using `NonEmptyBz::from_#_array()` constructors.
+	/// If `bz` is `[u8; N]` or `&[u8; N]`, consider using `NonEmptyBz::from_#_array()` constructor.
 	pub fn new(bz: T) -> Option<Self>
 	where
 		T: AsRef<[u8]>,
@@ -91,7 +93,7 @@ impl<T> NonEmptyBz<T> {
 		NonEmptyBz(&self.0)
 	}
 
-	/// Returns [`NonEmptyBz`] containing the [`AsRef::<[u8]>::as_ref`] of the inner value.
+	/// Returns [`NonEmptyBz`] containing the `AsRef::<[u8]>::as_ref` of the inner value.
 	pub fn as_ref_slice(&self) -> NonEmptyBz<&[u8]>
 	where
 		T: AsRef<[u8]>,
@@ -99,23 +101,19 @@ impl<T> NonEmptyBz<T> {
 		NonEmptyBz(self.0.as_ref())
 	}
 
-	/// Returns the `len` of the inner value's [`AsRef::<[u8]>::as_ref`].
-	pub fn len(&self) -> usize
-	where
-		T: AsRef<[u8]>,
-	{
-		self.0.as_ref().len()
-	}
-
-	/// Returns true if the `len` of the inner value's [`AsRef::<[u8]>::as_ref`] is 0.
-	pub fn is_empty(&self) -> bool
+	/// Returns the `len` of the inner value's `AsRef::<[u8]>::as_ref`.
+	pub fn len(&self) -> NonZeroUsize
 	where
 		T: AsRef<[u8]>,
 	{
-		self.0.as_ref().is_empty()
+		// SAFETY: `NonEmptyBz` guarantees that the contained value is non-empty,
+		// i.e. `self.0.as_ref().len() >= 1`. This invariant is maintained by:
+		// - The `NonEmptyBz::new()` constructor which rejects empty values
+		// - The array constructors which use compile-time assertions to ensure non-empty array
+		unsafe { NonZeroUsize::new_unchecked(self.0.as_ref().len()) }
 	}
 
-	/// Unwraps the value, consuming the [`NonEmptyBz`].
+	/// Unwraps the value, consuming the `NonEmptyBz`.
 	pub fn into_inner(self) -> T {
 		self.0
 	}
@@ -132,9 +130,9 @@ impl<T> NonEmptyBz<&T> {
 }
 
 impl<const N: usize> NonEmptyBz<[u8; N]> {
-	/// Creates a [`NonEmptyBz`] containing the array `bz`.
+	/// Creates a `NonEmptyBz<[u8; N]>` containing the array `bz`.
 	///
-	/// Will cause compile-time error if `N` is 0.
+	/// Will cause compile-time error if `N == 0`.
 	pub const fn from_owned_array(bz: [u8; N]) -> Self {
 		const { assert!(N != 0) }
 		Self(bz)
@@ -142,9 +140,9 @@ impl<const N: usize> NonEmptyBz<[u8; N]> {
 }
 
 impl<'a, const N: usize> NonEmptyBz<&'a [u8; N]> {
-	/// Creates a [`NonEmptyBz`] containing the borrowed array `bz`.
+	/// Creates a `NonEmptyBz<&[u8; N]>` containing the borrowed array `bz`.
 	///
-	/// Will cause compile-time error if `N` is 0.
+	/// Will cause compile-time error if `N == 0`.
 	pub const fn from_borrowed_array(bz: &'a [u8; N]) -> Self {
 		const { assert!(N != 0) }
 		Self(bz)
@@ -153,7 +151,8 @@ impl<'a, const N: usize> NonEmptyBz<&'a [u8; N]> {
 
 #[cfg(feature = "bytes")]
 impl From<NonEmptyBz<&[u8]>> for NonEmptyBz<bytes::Bytes> {
-	/// Creates a [`NonEmptyBz`] containing `Bytes` from a [`NonEmptyBz`] containing `&[u8]` by invoking [`Bytes::copy_from_slice`](bytes::Bytes::copy_from_slice).
+	/// Creates a `NonEmptyBz<Bytes>` from a `NonEmptyBz<Bytes>` containing `&[u8]`
+	/// by invoking [`Bytes::copy_from_slice`](bytes::Bytes::copy_from_slice).
 	fn from(nebz_slice: NonEmptyBz<&[u8]>) -> Self {
 		Self(bytes::Bytes::copy_from_slice(nebz_slice.get()))
 	}
@@ -220,4 +219,28 @@ mod tests {
 		assert_eq!(last, expected_last);
 		assert_eq!(rest, expected_split_last_rest);
 	}
+
+	#[rstest]
+	// single byte
+	#[case::single_byte_owned_array(NonEmptyBz::from_owned_array([42]), NonZeroUsize::MIN)]
+	#[case::single_byte_borrowed_array(NonEmptyBz::from_borrowed_array(b"a"), NonZeroUsize::MIN)]
+	#[case::single_byte_vec(NonEmptyBz::new(vec![0]).unwrap(), NonZeroUsize::MIN)]
+	#[case::single_byte_str(NonEmptyBz::new("z").unwrap(), NonZeroUsize::MIN)]
+	// multiple bytes
+	#[case::multiple_bytes_owned_array(
+		NonEmptyBz::from_owned_array([1, 2, 3, 4]),
+		4.try_into().unwrap(),
+	)]
+	#[case::multiple_bytes_borrowed_array(
+		NonEmptyBz::from_borrowed_array(b"nebz"),
+		4.try_into().unwrap(),
+	)]
+	#[case::multiple_bytes_vec(NonEmptyBz::new(vec![255, 0, 128]).unwrap(), 3.try_into().unwrap())]
+	#[case::multiple_bytes_str(NonEmptyBz::new("hello").unwrap(), 5.try_into().unwrap())]
+	fn len_works<T>(#[case] nebz: NonEmptyBz<T>, #[case] expected_len: NonZeroUsize)
+	where
+		T: AsRef<[u8]>,
+	{
+		assert_eq!(nebz.len(), expected_len);
+	}
 }