diff --git a/native_client/alphabet.h b/native_client/alphabet.h
index 2d60e426..bbd48799 100644
--- a/native_client/alphabet.h
+++ b/native_client/alphabet.h
@@ -47,25 +47,25 @@ public:
 
   int deserialize(const char* buffer, const int buffer_size) {
     int offset = 0;
-    if (buffer_size - offset < sizeof(int16_t)) {
+    if (buffer_size - offset < sizeof(uint16_t)) {
       return 1;
     }
-    int16_t size = *(int16_t*)(buffer + offset);
-    offset += sizeof(int16_t);
+    uint16_t size = *(uint16_t*)(buffer + offset);
+    offset += sizeof(uint16_t);
     size_ = size;
 
     for (int i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
-      if (buffer_size - offset < sizeof(int16_t)) {
+      if (buffer_size - offset < sizeof(uint16_t)) {
         return 1;
       }
-      int16_t label = *(int16_t*)(buffer + offset);
-      offset += sizeof(int16_t);
+      uint16_t label = *(uint16_t*)(buffer + offset);
+      offset += sizeof(uint16_t);
 
-      if (buffer_size - offset < sizeof(int16_t)) {
+      if (buffer_size - offset < sizeof(uint16_t)) {
         return 1;
       }
-      int16_t val_len = *(int16_t*)(buffer + offset);
-      offset += sizeof(int16_t);
+      uint16_t val_len = *(uint16_t*)(buffer + offset);
+      offset += sizeof(uint16_t);
 
       if (buffer_size - offset < val_len) {
         return 1;
diff --git a/util/text.py b/util/text.py
index 0a846897..7d5779b4 100644
--- a/util/text.py
+++ b/util/text.py
@@ -55,33 +55,12 @@ class Alphabet(object):
 
     def serialize(self):
         res = bytearray()
-        res += struct.pack('<h', self._size)
+        res += struct.pack('<H', self._size)
         for key, value in self._label_to_str.items():
             value = value.encode('utf-8')
-            res += struct.pack('<hh{}s'.format(len(value)), key, len(value), value)
+            res += struct.pack('<HH{}s'.format(len(value)), key, len(value), value)
         return bytes(res)
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def deserialize(buf):
-        #pylint: disable=protected-access
-        res = Alphabet(config_file=None)
-
-        offset = 0
-        def unpack_and_fwd(fmt, buf):
-            nonlocal offset
-            result = struct.unpack_from(fmt, buf, offset)
-            offset += struct.calcsize(fmt)
-            return result
-
-        res.size = unpack_and_fwd('<h', buf)[0]
-        for _ in range(res.size):
-            label, val_len = unpack_and_fwd('<hh', buf)
-            val = unpack_and_fwd('<{}s'.format(val_len), buf)[0].decode('utf-8')
-            res._label_to_str[label] = val
-            res._str_to_label[val] = label
-
-        return res
-
     def size(self):
         return self._size