diff --git a/password-hash/Cargo.toml b/password-hash/Cargo.toml
index 296e46354..17e49b010 100644
--- a/password-hash/Cargo.toml
+++ b/password-hash/Cargo.toml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ base64ct = "1"
 subtle = { version = "2", default-features = false }
 
 # optional dependencies
-rand_core = { version = "0.6", optional = true, default-features = false }
+rand_core = { version = "0.6.4", optional = true, default-features = false }
 
 [features]
 default = ["rand_core"]
diff --git a/password-hash/src/salt.rs b/password-hash/src/salt.rs
index e6fb9d853..85198b679 100644
--- a/password-hash/src/salt.rs
+++ b/password-hash/src/salt.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use core::{fmt, str};
 
 use crate::errors::InvalidValue;
 #[cfg(feature = "rand_core")]
-use rand_core::{CryptoRng, RngCore};
+use rand_core::CryptoRngCore;
 
 /// Error message used with `expect` for when internal invariants are violated
 /// (i.e. the contents of a [`Salt`] should always be valid)
@@ -100,9 +100,9 @@ impl<'a> Salt<'a> {
     /// [PHC string format specification]: https://github.com/P-H-C/phc-string-format/blob/master/phc-sf-spec.md#function-duties
     pub const RECOMMENDED_LENGTH: usize = 16;
 
-    /// Create a [`Salt`] from the given `str`, validating it according to
-    /// [`Salt::MIN_LENGTH`] and [`Salt::MAX_LENGTH`] length restrictions.
-    pub fn new(input: &'a str) -> Result<Self> {
+    /// Create a [`Salt`] from the given B64-encoded input string, validating
+    /// [`Salt::MIN_LENGTH`] and [`Salt::MAX_LENGTH`] restrictions.
+    pub fn from_b64(input: &'a str) -> Result<Self> {
         let length = input.as_bytes().len();
 
         if length < Self::MIN_LENGTH {
@@ -113,18 +113,27 @@ impl<'a> Salt<'a> {
             return Err(Error::SaltInvalid(InvalidValue::TooLong));
         }
 
+        // TODO(tarcieri): full B64 decoding check?
+        for char in input.chars() {
+            // From the PHC string format spec:
+            //
+            // > The salt consists in a sequence of characters in: `[a-zA-Z0-9/+.-]`
+            // > (lowercase letters, uppercase letters, digits, /, +, . and -).
+            if !matches!(char, 'a'..='z' | 'A'..='Z' | '0'..='9' | '/' | '+' | '.' | '-') {
+                return Err(Error::SaltInvalid(InvalidValue::InvalidChar(char)));
+            }
+        }
+
         input.try_into().map(Self).map_err(|e| match e {
             Error::ParamValueInvalid(value_err) => Error::SaltInvalid(value_err),
             err => err,
         })
     }
 
-    /// Attempt to decode a B64-encoded [`Salt`], writing the decoded result
-    /// into the provided buffer, and returning a slice of the buffer
-    /// containing the decoded result on success.
-    ///
-    /// [1]: https://github.com/P-H-C/phc-string-format/blob/master/phc-sf-spec.md#argon2-encoding
-    pub fn b64_decode<'b>(&self, buf: &'b mut [u8]) -> Result<&'b [u8]> {
+    /// Attempt to decode a B64-encoded [`Salt`] into bytes, writing the
+    /// decoded output into the provided buffer, and returning a slice of the
+    /// portion of the buffer containing the decoded result on success.
+    pub fn decode_b64<'b>(&self, buf: &'b mut [u8]) -> Result<&'b [u8]> {
         self.0.b64_decode(buf)
     }
 
@@ -133,15 +142,25 @@ impl<'a> Salt<'a> {
         self.0.as_str()
     }
 
-    /// Borrow this value as bytes.
-    pub fn as_bytes(&self) -> &'a [u8] {
-        self.as_str().as_bytes()
-    }
-
     /// Get the length of this value in ASCII characters.
     pub fn len(&self) -> usize {
         self.as_str().len()
     }
+
+    /// Create a [`Salt`] from the given B64-encoded input string, validating
+    /// [`Salt::MIN_LENGTH`] and [`Salt::MAX_LENGTH`] restrictions.
+    #[deprecated(since = "0.5.0", note = "use `from_b64` instead")]
+    pub fn new(input: &'a str) -> Result<Self> {
+        Self::from_b64(input)
+    }
+
+    /// Attempt to decode a B64-encoded [`Salt`] into bytes, writing the
+    /// decoded output into the provided buffer, and returning a slice of the
+    /// portion of the buffer containing the decoded result on success.
+    #[deprecated(since = "0.5.0", note = "use `decode_b64` instead")]
+    pub fn b64_decode<'b>(&self, buf: &'b mut [u8]) -> Result<&'b [u8]> {
+        self.decode_b64(buf)
+    }
 }
 
 impl<'a> AsRef<str> for Salt<'a> {
@@ -154,7 +173,7 @@ impl<'a> TryFrom<&'a str> for Salt<'a> {
     type Error = Error;
 
     fn try_from(input: &'a str) -> Result<Self> {
-        Self::new(input)
+        Self::from_b64(input)
     }
 }
 
@@ -173,8 +192,8 @@ impl<'a> fmt::Debug for Salt<'a> {
 /// Owned stack-allocated equivalent of [`Salt`].
 #[derive(Clone, Eq)]
 pub struct SaltString {
-    /// Byte array containing an ASCiI-encoded string.
-    bytes: [u8; Salt::MAX_LENGTH],
+    /// ASCII-encoded characters which comprise the salt.
+    chars: [u8; Salt::MAX_LENGTH],
 
     /// Length of the string in ASCII characters (i.e. bytes).
     length: u8,
@@ -185,64 +204,81 @@ impl SaltString {
     /// Generate a random B64-encoded [`SaltString`].
     #[cfg(feature = "rand_core")]
     #[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "rand_core")))]
-    pub fn generate(mut rng: impl CryptoRng + RngCore) -> Self {
+    pub fn generate(mut rng: impl CryptoRngCore) -> Self {
         let mut bytes = [0u8; Salt::RECOMMENDED_LENGTH];
         rng.fill_bytes(&mut bytes);
-        Self::b64_encode(&bytes).expect(INVARIANT_VIOLATED_MSG)
+        Self::encode_b64(&bytes).expect(INVARIANT_VIOLATED_MSG)
     }
 
-    /// Create a new [`SaltString`].
-    pub fn new(s: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+    /// Create a new [`SaltString`] from the given B64-encoded input string,
+    /// validating [`Salt::MIN_LENGTH`] and [`Salt::MAX_LENGTH`] restrictions.
+    pub fn from_b64(s: &str) -> Result<Self> {
         // Assert `s` parses successfully as a `Salt`
-        Salt::new(s)?;
-
-        let length = s.as_bytes().len();
-
-        if length <= Salt::MAX_LENGTH {
-            let mut bytes = [0u8; Salt::MAX_LENGTH];
-            bytes[..length].copy_from_slice(s.as_bytes());
-            Ok(SaltString {
-                bytes,
-                length: length as u8,
-            })
-        } else {
-            Err(Error::SaltInvalid(InvalidValue::TooLong))
-        }
+        Salt::from_b64(s)?;
+
+        let len = s.as_bytes().len();
+
+        let mut bytes = [0u8; Salt::MAX_LENGTH];
+        bytes[..len].copy_from_slice(s.as_bytes());
+
+        Ok(SaltString {
+            chars: bytes,
+            length: len as u8, // `Salt::from_b64` check prevents overflow
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Decode this [`SaltString`] from B64 into the provided output buffer.
+    pub fn decode_b64<'a>(&self, buf: &'a mut [u8]) -> Result<&'a [u8]> {
+        self.as_salt().decode_b64(buf)
     }
 
     /// Encode the given byte slice as B64 into a new [`SaltString`].
     ///
-    /// Returns `None` if the slice is too long.
-    pub fn b64_encode(input: &[u8]) -> Result<Self> {
+    /// Returns `Error` if the slice is too long.
+    pub fn encode_b64(input: &[u8]) -> Result<Self> {
         let mut bytes = [0u8; Salt::MAX_LENGTH];
         let length = Encoding::B64.encode(input, &mut bytes)?.len() as u8;
-        Ok(Self { bytes, length })
-    }
-
-    /// Decode this [`SaltString`] from B64 into the provided output buffer.
-    pub fn b64_decode<'a>(&self, buf: &'a mut [u8]) -> Result<&'a [u8]> {
-        self.as_salt().b64_decode(buf)
+        Ok(Self {
+            chars: bytes,
+            length,
+        })
     }
 
     /// Borrow the contents of a [`SaltString`] as a [`Salt`].
     pub fn as_salt(&self) -> Salt<'_> {
-        Salt::new(self.as_str()).expect(INVARIANT_VIOLATED_MSG)
+        Salt::from_b64(self.as_str()).expect(INVARIANT_VIOLATED_MSG)
     }
 
     /// Borrow the contents of a [`SaltString`] as a `str`.
     pub fn as_str(&self) -> &str {
-        str::from_utf8(&self.bytes[..(self.length as usize)]).expect(INVARIANT_VIOLATED_MSG)
-    }
-
-    /// Borrow this value as bytes.
-    pub fn as_bytes(&self) -> &[u8] {
-        self.as_str().as_bytes()
+        str::from_utf8(&self.chars[..(self.length as usize)]).expect(INVARIANT_VIOLATED_MSG)
     }
 
     /// Get the length of this value in ASCII characters.
     pub fn len(&self) -> usize {
         self.as_str().len()
     }
+
+    /// Create a new [`SaltString`] from the given B64-encoded input string,
+    /// validating [`Salt::MIN_LENGTH`] and [`Salt::MAX_LENGTH`] restrictions.
+    #[deprecated(since = "0.5.0", note = "use `from_b64` instead")]
+    pub fn new(s: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+        Self::from_b64(s)
+    }
+
+    /// Decode this [`SaltString`] from B64 into the provided output buffer.
+    #[deprecated(since = "0.5.0", note = "use `decode_b64` instead")]
+    pub fn b64_decode<'a>(&self, buf: &'a mut [u8]) -> Result<&'a [u8]> {
+        self.decode_b64(buf)
+    }
+
+    /// Encode the given byte slice as B64 into a new [`SaltString`].
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Error` if the slice is too long.
+    #[deprecated(since = "0.5.0", note = "use `encode_b64` instead")]
+    pub fn b64_encode(input: &[u8]) -> Result<Self> {
+        Self::encode_b64(input)
+    }
 }
 
 impl AsRef<str> for SaltString {
@@ -284,21 +320,21 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     fn new_with_valid_min_length_input() {
         let s = "abcd";
-        let salt = Salt::new(s).unwrap();
+        let salt = Salt::from_b64(s).unwrap();
         assert_eq!(salt.as_ref(), s);
     }
 
     #[test]
     fn new_with_valid_max_length_input() {
         let s = "012345678911234567892123456789312345678941234567";
-        let salt = Salt::new(s).unwrap();
+        let salt = Salt::from_b64(s).unwrap();
         assert_eq!(salt.as_ref(), s);
     }
 
     #[test]
     fn reject_new_too_short() {
         for &too_short in &["", "a", "ab", "abc"] {
-            let err = Salt::new(too_short).err().unwrap();
+            let err = Salt::from_b64(too_short).err().unwrap();
             assert_eq!(err, Error::SaltInvalid(InvalidValue::TooShort));
         }
     }
@@ -306,14 +342,14 @@ mod tests {
     #[test]
     fn reject_new_too_long() {
         let s = "01234567891123456789212345678931234567894123456785234567896234567";
-        let err = Salt::new(s).err().unwrap();
+        let err = Salt::from_b64(s).err().unwrap();
         assert_eq!(err, Error::SaltInvalid(InvalidValue::TooLong));
     }
 
     #[test]
     fn reject_new_invalid_char() {
         let s = "01234_abcd";
-        let err = Salt::new(s).err().unwrap();
+        let err = Salt::from_b64(s).err().unwrap();
         assert_eq!(err, Error::SaltInvalid(InvalidValue::InvalidChar('_')));
     }
 }
diff --git a/password-hash/tests/encoding.rs b/password-hash/tests/encoding.rs
index faaa746d5..0d7c16f2e 100644
--- a/password-hash/tests/encoding.rs
+++ b/password-hash/tests/encoding.rs
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ const EXAMPLE_OUTPUT_RAW: &[u8] =
 #[test]
 fn salt_roundtrip() {
     let mut buffer = [0u8; 64];
-    let salt = Salt::new(EXAMPLE_SALT_B64).unwrap();
+    let salt = Salt::from_b64(EXAMPLE_SALT_B64).unwrap();
     assert_eq!(salt.as_ref(), EXAMPLE_SALT_B64);
 
-    let salt_decoded = salt.b64_decode(&mut buffer).unwrap();
+    let salt_decoded = salt.decode_b64(&mut buffer).unwrap();
     assert_eq!(salt_decoded, EXAMPLE_SALT_RAW);
 }
 
diff --git a/password-hash/tests/hashing.rs b/password-hash/tests/hashing.rs
index 73378440a..ccb587324 100644
--- a/password-hash/tests/hashing.rs
+++ b/password-hash/tests/hashing.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ impl PasswordHasher for StubPasswordHasher {
             }
         }
 
-        for slice in &[b"pw", password, b",salt:", salt.as_bytes()] {
+        for slice in &[b"pw", password, b",salt:", salt.as_str().as_bytes()] {
             output.extend_from_slice(slice);
         }
 
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ impl<'a> TryFrom<StubParams> for ParamsString {
 #[test]
 fn verify_password_hash() {
     let valid_password = "test password";
-    let salt = Salt::new("test-salt").unwrap();
+    let salt = Salt::from_b64("test-salt").unwrap();
     let hash = PasswordHash::generate(StubPasswordHasher, valid_password, salt).unwrap();
 
     // Sanity tests for StubFunction impl above
diff --git a/password-hash/tests/password_hash.rs b/password-hash/tests/password_hash.rs
index 6b391f6b1..a8c7a2cc9 100644
--- a/password-hash/tests/password_hash.rs
+++ b/password-hash/tests/password_hash.rs
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ fn salt() {
         algorithm: EXAMPLE_ALGORITHM,
         version: None,
         params: ParamsString::new(),
-        salt: Some(Salt::new(EXAMPLE_SALT).unwrap()),
+        salt: Some(Salt::from_b64(EXAMPLE_SALT).unwrap()),
         hash: None,
     };
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ fn one_param_and_salt() {
         algorithm: EXAMPLE_ALGORITHM,
         version: None,
         params,
-        salt: Some(Salt::new(EXAMPLE_SALT).unwrap()),
+        salt: Some(Salt::from_b64(EXAMPLE_SALT).unwrap()),
         hash: None,
     };
 
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ fn params_and_salt() {
         algorithm: EXAMPLE_ALGORITHM,
         version: None,
         params: example_params(),
-        salt: Some(Salt::new(EXAMPLE_SALT).unwrap()),
+        salt: Some(Salt::from_b64(EXAMPLE_SALT).unwrap()),
         hash: None,
     };
 
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ fn salt_and_hash() {
         algorithm: EXAMPLE_ALGORITHM,
         version: None,
         params: ParamsString::default(),
-        salt: Some(Salt::new(EXAMPLE_SALT).unwrap()),
+        salt: Some(Salt::from_b64(EXAMPLE_SALT).unwrap()),
         hash: Some(EXAMPLE_HASH.try_into().unwrap()),
     };
 
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ fn all_fields() {
         algorithm: EXAMPLE_ALGORITHM,
         version: None,
         params: example_params(),
-        salt: Some(Salt::new(EXAMPLE_SALT).unwrap()),
+        salt: Some(Salt::from_b64(EXAMPLE_SALT).unwrap()),
         hash: Some(EXAMPLE_HASH.try_into().unwrap()),
     };