diff --git a/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m b/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m
index a12a41983c..1ee3d380e0 100644
--- a/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m
+++ b/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@
 #import "BITHockeyAppClient.h"
 #import "BITHockeyHelper.h"
 
+#if __IPHONE_OS_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED < 70000
+@interface NSData (iOS7)
+- (NSString *)base64Encoding;
+@end
+#endif
+
 static NSString* const kBITAuthenticatorUUIDKey = @"BITAuthenticatorUUIDKey";
 static NSString* const kBITAuthenticatorIdentifierKey = @"BITAuthenticatorIdentifierKey";
 static NSString* const kBITAuthenticatorIdentifierTypeKey = @"BITAuthenticatorIdentifierTypeKey";
@@ -408,7 +414,7 @@ static NSString* const kBITAuthenticatorAuthTokenTypeKey = @"BITAuthenticatorAut
   if(BITAuthenticatorIdentificationTypeHockeyAppUser == self.identificationType) {
     NSString *authStr = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@:%@", email, password];
     NSData *authData = [authStr dataUsingEncoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding];
-    NSString *authValue = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Basic %@", bit_base64String(authData, authData.length)];
+    NSString *authValue = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Basic %@", [authData base64Encoding]];
     [request setValue:authValue forHTTPHeaderField:@"Authorization"];
   }
   return request;
diff --git a/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.h b/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.h
index 1f39fdab29..4c5bdee4fc 100644
--- a/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.h
+++ b/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.h
@@ -32,8 +32,6 @@
 /* NSString helpers */
 NSString *bit_URLEncodedString(NSString *inputString);
 NSString *bit_URLDecodedString(NSString *inputString);
-NSString *bit_base64StringPreiOS7(NSData * data, unsigned long length);
-NSString *bit_base64String(NSData * data, unsigned long length);
 
 BOOL bit_validateEmail(NSString *email);
 NSString *bit_keychainHockeySDKServiceName(void);
diff --git a/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.m b/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.m
index e30b99f5df..8ac4687e7c 100644
--- a/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.m
+++ b/Classes/BITHockeyHelper.m
@@ -33,13 +33,6 @@
 #import "HockeySDKPrivate.h"
 #import <QuartzCore/QuartzCore.h>
 
-static char base64EncodingTable[64] = {
-  'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', 'F', 'G', 'H', 'I', 'J', 'K', 'L', 'M', 'N', 'O', 'P',
-  'Q', 'R', 'S', 'T', 'U', 'V', 'W', 'X', 'Y', 'Z', 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f',
-  'g', 'h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v',
-  'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8', '9', '+', '/'
-};
-
 #pragma mark NSString helpers
 
 NSString *bit_URLEncodedString(NSString *inputString) {
@@ -59,74 +52,6 @@ NSString *bit_URLDecodedString(NSString *inputString) {
                            );
 }
 
-NSString *bit_base64StringPreiOS7(NSData * data, unsigned long length) {
-  unsigned long ixtext, lentext;
-  long ctremaining;
-  unsigned char input[3], output[4];
-  short i, charsonline = 0, ctcopy;
-  const unsigned char *raw;
-  NSMutableString *result;
-  
-  lentext = [data length];
-  if (lentext < 1)
-    return @"";
-  result = [NSMutableString stringWithCapacity: lentext];
-  raw = [data bytes];
-  ixtext = 0;
-  
-  while (true) {
-    ctremaining = (long)(lentext - ixtext);
-    if (ctremaining <= 0)
-      break;
-    for (unsigned long y = 0; y < 3; y++) {
-      unsigned long ix = (ixtext + y);
-      if (ix < lentext)
-        input[y] = raw[ix];
-      else
-        input[y] = 0;
-    }
-    output[0] = (input[0] & 0xFC) >> 2;
-    output[1] = (unsigned char)((input[0] & 0x03) << 4) | ((input[1] & 0xF0) >> 4);
-    output[2] = (unsigned char)((input[1] & 0x0F) << 2) | ((input[2] & 0xC0) >> 6);
-    output[3] = input[2] & 0x3F;
-    ctcopy = 4;
-    switch (ctremaining) {
-      case 1:
-        ctcopy = 2;
-        break;
-      case 2:
-        ctcopy = 3;
-        break;
-    }
-    
-    for (i = 0; i < ctcopy; i++)
-      [result appendString: [NSString stringWithFormat: @"%c", base64EncodingTable[output[i]]]];
-    
-    for (i = ctcopy; i < 4; i++)
-      [result appendString: @"="];
-    
-    ixtext += 3;
-    charsonline += 4;
-    
-    if ((length > 0) && (charsonline >= length))
-      charsonline = 0;
-  }
-  return result;
-}
-
-NSString *bit_base64String(NSData * data, unsigned long length) {
-#if __IPHONE_OS_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED > __IPHONE_6_1
-  SEL base64EncodingSelector = NSSelectorFromString(@"base64EncodedStringWithOptions:");
-  if ([data respondsToSelector:base64EncodingSelector]) {
-    return [data base64EncodedStringWithOptions:0];
-  } else {
-#endif
-    return bit_base64StringPreiOS7(data, length);
-#if __IPHONE_OS_VERSION_MAX_ALLOWED > __IPHONE_6_1
-  }
-#endif
-}
-
 BOOL bit_validateEmail(NSString *email) {
   NSString *emailRegex =
   @"(?:[a-z0-9!#$%\\&'*+/=?\\^_`{|}~-]+(?:\\.[a-z0-9!#$%\\&'*+/=?\\^_`{|}"