diff --git a/include/yaml-cpp/binary.h b/include/yaml-cpp/binary.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..acb5e5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/yaml-cpp/binary.h
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#ifndef BASE64_H_62B23520_7C8E_11DE_8A39_0800200C9A66
+#define BASE64_H_62B23520_7C8E_11DE_8A39_0800200C9A66
+
+#if defined(_MSC_VER) || (defined(__GNUC__) && (__GNUC__ == 3 && __GNUC_MINOR__ >= 4) || (__GNUC__ >= 4)) // GCC supports "pragma once" correctly since 3.4
+#pragma once
+#endif
+
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace YAML
+{
+    class ostream;
+    
+    void WriteBase64(ostream& out, const unsigned char *data, std::size_t size);
+    std::vector<unsigned char> ReadBase64(const std::string& input);
+    
+    class Binary {
+    public:
+        Binary(): m_unownedData(0), m_unownedSize(0) {}
+        Binary(const unsigned char *data, std::size_t size): m_unownedData(data), m_unownedSize(size) {}
+        
+        bool owned() const { return !m_unownedData; }
+        std::size_t size() const { return owned() ? m_data.size() : m_unownedSize; }
+        const unsigned char *data() const { return owned() ? &m_data[0] : m_unownedData; }
+        
+        void swap(std::vector<unsigned char>& rhs) {
+            if(m_unownedData) {
+                m_data.swap(rhs);
+                rhs.clear();
+                rhs.resize(m_unownedSize);
+                std::copy(m_unownedData, m_unownedData + m_unownedSize, &rhs[0]);
+                m_unownedData = 0;
+                m_unownedSize = 0;
+            } else {
+                m_data.swap(rhs);
+            }
+        }
+        
+    private:
+        std::vector<unsigned char> m_data;
+        const unsigned char *m_unownedData;
+        std::size_t m_unownedSize;
+    };
+}
+
+#endif // BASE64_H_62B23520_7C8E_11DE_8A39_0800200C9A66
diff --git a/include/yaml-cpp/emitter.h b/include/yaml-cpp/emitter.h
index 0e51e67..1d7edf2 100644
--- a/include/yaml-cpp/emitter.h
+++ b/include/yaml-cpp/emitter.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 
 #include "yaml-cpp/dll.h"
+#include "yaml-cpp/binary.h"
 #include "yaml-cpp/emittermanip.h"
 #include "yaml-cpp/ostream.h"
 #include "yaml-cpp/noncopyable.h"
@@ -60,7 +61,7 @@ namespace YAML
 		Emitter& Write(const _Tag& tag);
 		Emitter& Write(const _Comment& comment);
 		Emitter& Write(const _Null& null);
-		Emitter& Write(const _Binary& binary);
+		Emitter& Write(const Binary& binary);
 		
 		template <typename T>
 		Emitter& WriteIntegralType(T value);
@@ -153,7 +154,7 @@ namespace YAML
 	inline Emitter& operator << (Emitter& emitter, const _Tag& v) { return emitter.Write(v); }
 	inline Emitter& operator << (Emitter& emitter, const _Comment& v) { return emitter.Write(v); }
 	inline Emitter& operator << (Emitter& emitter, const _Null& v) { return emitter.Write(v); }
-	inline Emitter& operator << (Emitter& emitter, const _Binary& b) { return emitter.Write(b); }
+	inline Emitter& operator << (Emitter& emitter, const Binary& b) { return emitter.Write(b); }
 
 	inline Emitter& operator << (Emitter& emitter, const char *v) { return emitter.Write(std::string(v)); }
 
diff --git a/include/yaml-cpp/emittermanip.h b/include/yaml-cpp/emittermanip.h
index 5774df0..a8ec64a 100644
--- a/include/yaml-cpp/emittermanip.h
+++ b/include/yaml-cpp/emittermanip.h
@@ -125,16 +125,6 @@ namespace YAML
 	inline _Comment Comment(const std::string content) {
 		return _Comment(content);
 	}
-	
-	struct _Binary {
-		_Binary(const unsigned char *data_, std::size_t size_): data(data_), size(size_) {}
-		const unsigned char *data;
-		std::size_t size;
-	};
-	
-	inline _Binary Binary(const unsigned char *data, std::size_t size) {
-		return _Binary(data, size);
-	}
     
     struct _Precision {
         _Precision(int floatPrecision_, int doublePrecision_): floatPrecision(floatPrecision_), doublePrecision(doublePrecision_) {}
diff --git a/src/binary.cpp b/src/binary.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f599073
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/binary.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+#include "yaml-cpp/binary.h"
+#include "yaml-cpp/ostream.h"
+
+namespace YAML
+{
+    static const char encoding[] = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/";
+
+    void WriteBase64(ostream& out, const unsigned char *data, std::size_t size)
+    {
+        const char PAD = '=';
+        
+        out << "\"";
+        std::size_t chunks = size / 3;
+        std::size_t remainder = size % 3;
+        
+        for(std::size_t i=0;i<chunks;i++, data += 3) {
+            out << encoding[data[0] >> 2];
+            out << encoding[((data[0] & 0x3) << 4) | (data[1] >> 4)];
+            out << encoding[((data[1] & 0xf) << 2) | (data[2] >> 6)];
+            out << encoding[data[2] & 0x3f];
+        }
+        
+        switch(remainder) {
+            case 0:
+                break;
+            case 1:
+                out << encoding[data[0] >> 2];
+                out << encoding[((data[0] & 0x3) << 4)];
+                out << PAD;
+                out << PAD;
+                break;
+            case 2:
+                out << encoding[data[0] >> 2];
+                out << encoding[((data[0] & 0x3) << 4) | (data[1] >> 4)];
+                out << encoding[((data[1] & 0xf) << 2)];
+                out << PAD;
+                break;
+        }
+        
+        out << "\"";
+    }
+    
+    static const unsigned char decoding[] = {
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255, 62,255,255,255, 63,
+         52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61,255,255,255,  0,255,255,
+        255,  0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
+         15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40,
+         41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+        255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,
+    };
+
+    std::vector<unsigned char> ReadBase64(const std::string& input)
+    {
+        typedef std::vector<unsigned char> ret_type;
+        if(input.empty())
+            return ret_type();
+        
+        ret_type ret(3 * input.size() / 4 + 1);
+        unsigned char *out = &ret[0];
+        
+        unsigned value = 0;
+        for(std::size_t i=0;i<input.size();i++) {
+            unsigned char d = decoding[static_cast<unsigned>(input[i])];
+            if(d == 255)
+                return ret_type();
+
+            value = (value << 6) | d;
+            if(i % 4 == 3) {
+                *out++ = value >> 16;
+                if(i > 0 && input[i - 1] != '=')
+                    *out++ = value >> 8;
+                if(input[i] != '=')
+                    *out++ = value;
+            }
+        }
+        
+        ret.resize(out - &ret[0]);
+        return ret;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/emitter.cpp b/src/emitter.cpp
index 901344a..91f48da 100644
--- a/src/emitter.cpp
+++ b/src/emitter.cpp
@@ -865,7 +865,7 @@ namespace YAML
 		return *this;
 	}
 
-	Emitter& Emitter::Write(const _Binary& binary)
+	Emitter& Emitter::Write(const Binary& binary)
 	{
 		Write(SecondaryTag("binary"));
 
@@ -874,7 +874,7 @@ namespace YAML
 		
 		PreAtomicWrite();
 		EmitSeparationIfNecessary();
-		Utils::WriteBinary(m_stream, binary.data, binary.size);
+		Utils::WriteBinary(m_stream, binary);
 		PostAtomicWrite();
 		return *this;
 	}
diff --git a/src/emitterutils.cpp b/src/emitterutils.cpp
index 361cce5..f27e10e 100644
--- a/src/emitterutils.cpp
+++ b/src/emitterutils.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include "emitterutils.h"
 #include "exp.h"
 #include "indentation.h"
+#include "yaml-cpp/binary.h"
 #include "yaml-cpp/exceptions.h"
 #include "stringsource.h"
 #include <sstream>
@@ -367,41 +368,10 @@ namespace YAML
 			return true;
 		}
 
-		bool WriteBinary(ostream& out, const unsigned char *data, std::size_t size)
+		bool WriteBinary(ostream& out, const Binary& binary)
 		{
-			static const char encoding[] = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789+/";
-			const char PAD = '=';
-			
-			out << "\"";
-			std::size_t chunks = size / 3;
-			std::size_t remainder = size % 3;
-
-			for(std::size_t i=0;i<chunks;i++, data += 3) {
-				out << encoding[data[0] >> 2];
-				out << encoding[((data[0] & 0x3) << 4) | (data[1] >> 4)];
-				out << encoding[((data[1] & 0xf) << 2) | (data[2] >> 6)];
-				out << encoding[data[2] & 0x3f];
-			}
-			
-			switch(remainder) {
-				case 0:
-					break;
-				case 1:
-					out << encoding[data[0] >> 2];
-					out << encoding[((data[0] & 0x3) << 4)];
-					out << PAD;
-					out << PAD;
-					break;
-				case 2:
-					out << encoding[data[0] >> 2];
-					out << encoding[((data[0] & 0x3) << 4) | (data[1] >> 4)];
-					out << encoding[((data[1] & 0xf) << 2)];
-					out << PAD;
-					break;
-			}
-			
-			out << "\"";
-			return true;
+            WriteBase64(out, binary.data(), binary.size());
+            return true;
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/emitterutils.h b/src/emitterutils.h
index 4e3eed9..0e270d6 100644
--- a/src/emitterutils.h
+++ b/src/emitterutils.h
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 namespace YAML
 {
+    class Binary;
+    
 	namespace Utils
 	{
 		bool WriteString(ostream& out, const std::string& str, bool inFlow, bool escapeNonAscii);
@@ -23,7 +25,7 @@ namespace YAML
 		bool WriteAnchor(ostream& out, const std::string& str);
 		bool WriteTag(ostream& out, const std::string& str, bool verbatim);
 		bool WriteTagWithPrefix(ostream& out, const std::string& prefix, const std::string& tag);
-		bool WriteBinary(ostream& out, const unsigned char *data, std::size_t size);
+		bool WriteBinary(ostream& out, const Binary& binary);
 	}
 }