diff --git a/packages/protocol/contracts/thirdparty/LibBytesUtils.sol b/packages/protocol/contracts/thirdparty/LibBytesUtils.sol
index cad328022ca..ce13f3ef897 100644
--- a/packages/protocol/contracts/thirdparty/LibBytesUtils.sol
+++ b/packages/protocol/contracts/thirdparty/LibBytesUtils.sol
@@ -111,19 +111,6 @@ library LibBytesUtils {
         return slice(_bytes, _start, _bytes.length - _start);
     }
 
-    function toBytes32(bytes memory _bytes) internal pure returns (bytes32) {
-        if (_bytes.length < 32) {
-            bytes32 ret;
-            assembly {
-                ret := mload(add(_bytes, 32))
-            }
-            return ret;
-        }
-
-        return abi.decode(_bytes, (bytes32)); // will truncate if input length >
-            // 32 bytes
-    }
-
     function toNibbles(bytes memory _bytes) internal pure returns (bytes memory) {
         bytes memory nibbles = new bytes(_bytes.length * 2);
 
diff --git a/packages/protocol/contracts/thirdparty/LibMerkleTrie.sol b/packages/protocol/contracts/thirdparty/LibMerkleTrie.sol
index 89f11f4de47..d124b56c6be 100644
--- a/packages/protocol/contracts/thirdparty/LibMerkleTrie.sol
+++ b/packages/protocol/contracts/thirdparty/LibMerkleTrie.sol
@@ -171,10 +171,7 @@ library LibMerkleTrie {
                 );
             } else {
                 // Nodes smaller than 31 bytes aren't hashed.
-                require(
-                    LibBytesUtils.toBytes32(currentNode.encoded) == currentNodeID,
-                    "Invalid internal node hash"
-                );
+                require(bytes32(currentNode.encoded) == currentNodeID, "Invalid internal node hash");
             }
 
             if (currentNode.decoded.length == BRANCH_NODE_LENGTH) {
@@ -275,7 +272,7 @@ library LibMerkleTrie {
             nodeID = LibRLPReader.readBytes(_node);
         }
 
-        return LibBytesUtils.toBytes32(nodeID);
+        return bytes32(nodeID);
     }
 
     /**