diff --git a/src/main/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/PGPainless.java b/src/main/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/PGPainless.java
index 5465b6e1..4bf2a8cf 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/PGPainless.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/PGPainless.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import org.pgpainless.pgpainless.encryption_signing.EncryptionStream;
 import org.pgpainless.pgpainless.key.parsing.KeyRingReader;
 import org.pgpainless.pgpainless.key.generation.KeyRingBuilder;
 import org.pgpainless.pgpainless.symmetric_encryption.SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor;
+import org.pgpainless.pgpainless.util.Passphrase;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ public class PGPainless {
      * @throws IOException IO is dangerous.
      * @throws PGPException PGP is brittle.
      */
-    public static byte[] encryptWithPassword(byte[] data, char[] password, SymmetricKeyAlgorithm algorithm) throws IOException, PGPException {
+    public static byte[] encryptWithPassword(byte[] data, Passphrase password, SymmetricKeyAlgorithm algorithm) throws IOException, PGPException {
         return SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor.symmetricallyEncrypt(data, password,
                 algorithm, CompressionAlgorithm.UNCOMPRESSED);
     }
@@ -87,7 +88,7 @@ public class PGPainless {
      * @throws IOException IO is dangerous.
      * @throws PGPException PGP is brittle.
      */
-    public static byte[] decryptWithPassword(byte[] data, char[] password) throws IOException, PGPException {
+    public static byte[] decryptWithPassword(byte[] data, Passphrase password) throws IOException, PGPException {
         return SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor.symmetricallyDecrypt(data, password);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/symmetric_encryption/SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor.java b/src/main/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/symmetric_encryption/SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor.java
index 5d6d03ff..ae5c2dc7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/symmetric_encryption/SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/symmetric_encryption/SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ import org.bouncycastle.openpgp.operator.jcajce.JcePGPDataEncryptorBuilder;
 import org.bouncycastle.util.io.Streams;
 import org.pgpainless.pgpainless.algorithm.CompressionAlgorithm;
 import org.pgpainless.pgpainless.algorithm.SymmetricKeyAlgorithm;
+import org.pgpainless.pgpainless.util.Passphrase;
 
 /**
  * Stolen from <a href="https://github.com/bcgit/bc-java/blob/master/pg/src/main/java/org/bouncycastle/openpgp/examples/PBEFileProcessor.java">
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ public class SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor {
      * @throws PGPException OpenPGP is brittle
      */
     public static byte[] symmetricallyEncrypt(byte[] data,
-                                              char[] password,
+                                              Passphrase password,
                                               SymmetricKeyAlgorithm encryptionAlgorithm,
                                               CompressionAlgorithm compressionAlgorithm)
             throws IOException, PGPException {
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ public class SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor {
                         .setSecureRandom(new SecureRandom())
                         .setProvider("BC"));
 
-        encGen.addMethod(new JcePBEKeyEncryptionMethodGenerator(password).setProvider("BC"));
+        encGen.addMethod(new JcePBEKeyEncryptionMethodGenerator(password.getChars()).setProvider("BC"));
 
         OutputStream encOut = encGen.open(bOut, compressedData.length);
 
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ public class SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor {
      * @throws IOException IO is dangerous
      * @throws PGPException OpenPGP is brittle
      */
-    public static byte[] symmetricallyDecrypt(byte[] data, char[] password) throws IOException, PGPException {
+    public static byte[] symmetricallyDecrypt(byte[] data, Passphrase password) throws IOException, PGPException {
         InputStream in = new BufferedInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(data));
         in = PGPUtil.getDecoderStream(in);
 
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ public class SymmetricEncryptorDecryptor {
         PGPPBEEncryptedData pbe = (PGPPBEEncryptedData) enc.get(0);
 
         InputStream clear = pbe.getDataStream(new BcPBEDataDecryptorFactory(
-                password, new BcPGPDigestCalculatorProvider()));
+                password.getChars(), new BcPGPDigestCalculatorProvider()));
 
 
         BcPGPObjectFactory pgpFact = new BcPGPObjectFactory(clear);
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/SymmetricTest.java b/src/test/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/SymmetricTest.java
index 50f67c67..82d2f735 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/SymmetricTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/pgpainless/pgpainless/SymmetricTest.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import org.bouncycastle.bcpg.ArmoredOutputStream;
 import org.bouncycastle.openpgp.PGPException;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.pgpainless.pgpainless.algorithm.SymmetricKeyAlgorithm;
+import org.pgpainless.pgpainless.util.Passphrase;
 
 public class SymmetricTest extends AbstractPGPainlessTest {
 
@@ -45,7 +46,8 @@ public class SymmetricTest extends AbstractPGPainlessTest {
     @Test
     public void testSymmetricEncryptionDecryption() throws IOException, PGPException {
         byte[] plain = message.getBytes();
-        byte[] enc = PGPainless.encryptWithPassword(plain, "choose_a_better_password_please".toCharArray(), SymmetricKeyAlgorithm.AES_128);
+        Passphrase passphrase = new Passphrase("choose_a_better_password_please".toCharArray());
+        byte[] enc = PGPainless.encryptWithPassword(plain, passphrase, SymmetricKeyAlgorithm.AES_128);
         ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
         ArmoredOutputStream armor = new ArmoredOutputStream(out);
         armor.write(enc);
@@ -55,7 +57,7 @@ public class SymmetricTest extends AbstractPGPainlessTest {
         // Print cipher text for validation with GnuPG.
         LOGGER.log(Level.INFO, new String(out.toByteArray()));
 
-        byte[] plain2 = PGPainless.decryptWithPassword(enc, "choose_a_better_password_please".toCharArray());
+        byte[] plain2 = PGPainless.decryptWithPassword(enc, passphrase);
         assertTrue(Arrays.equals(plain, plain2));
     }
 }