diff --git a/.commit_msg.txt b/.commit_msg.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d2cf766
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.commit_msg.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+fix: use sub-message decoding for Error fields (not raw bytes)
+
+The kRPC proto defines error on Response and ProcedureResult as
+type Error (a sub-message), not raw bytes. The schema already
+declared it that way, so protobufjs was decoding the error as
+a nested Error object automatically.
+
+But our client code was treating response.error as if it were
+a Uint8Array of raw bytes (matching the wrong type annotation
+we had earlier), and we were trying to decode those bytes as
+a second Error message. That double-decode was the source of
+the "RPC error: .:" with stray substitute character and the
+"index out of range" errors when the bytes happened to look
+like other protobuf structures.
+
+Fix: use the auto-decoded error object directly. response.error
+is now { service, name, description, stackTrace } when set,
+and we just read those fields.
+
+This should also let the actual response values decode correctly,
+since we were previously mangling the error path.
diff --git a/packages/krpc-client/src/client.ts b/packages/krpc-client/src/client.ts
index b51e92e..731bd22 100644
--- a/packages/krpc-client/src/client.ts
+++ b/packages/krpc-client/src/client.ts
@@ -232,23 +232,21 @@ export class KRPCClient {
         Buffer.from(raw).toString('hex'),
       );
     }
+    // The kRPC schema defines `error` as a sub-message of type Error
+    // (not raw bytes), so protobufjs decodes it as a nested object
+    // automatically — service/name/description/stackTrace are already
+    // populated when the field is set.
     const response = decodeMessage<{
-      // The error/result fields are `bytes` in the kRPC schema. They
-      // carry a serialized Error or value sub-message that we have
-      // to decode on its own — not a pre-decoded object.
-      error?: Uint8Array;
-      results: { error?: Uint8Array; value: Uint8Array }[];
+      error?: { service: string; name: string; description: string; stackTrace: string };
+      results: {
+        error?: { service: string; name: string; description: string; stackTrace: string };
+        value: Uint8Array;
+      }[];
     }>(KRPC.Response, raw);
-    if (response.error && response.error.length > 0) {
-      const err = decodeMessage<{
-        service: string;
-        name: string;
-        description: string;
-        stackTrace: string;
-      }>(KRPC.Error, response.error);
+    if (response.error) {
       throw new Error(
-        `RPC error: ${err.service}.${err.name}: ${err.description}` +
-          (err.stackTrace ? `\n${err.stackTrace}` : ''),
+        `RPC error: ${response.error.service}.${response.error.name}: ${response.error.description}` +
+          (response.error.stackTrace ? `\n${response.error.stackTrace}` : ''),
       );
     }
     if (response.results.length === 0) {
@@ -258,16 +256,10 @@ export class KRPCClient {
     if (!r) {
       throw new Error('empty response result');
     }
-    if (r.error && r.error.length > 0) {
-      const err = decodeMessage<{
-        service: string;
-        name: string;
-        description: string;
-        stackTrace: string;
-      }>(KRPC.Error, r.error);
+    if (r.error) {
       throw new Error(
-        `RPC result error: ${err.service}.${err.name}: ${err.description}` +
-          (err.stackTrace ? `\n${err.stackTrace}` : ''),
+        `RPC result error: ${r.error.service}.${r.error.name}: ${r.error.description}` +
+          (r.error.stackTrace ? `\n${r.error.stackTrace}` : ''),
       );
     }
     return r.value;
@@ -297,20 +289,17 @@ export class KRPCClient {
     };
     sendMessage(this.rpcSocket, KRPC.Request, { calls: [addCall] });
     const response = decodeMessage<{
-      results: { value: Uint8Array; error?: Uint8Array }[];
+      results: {
+        value: Uint8Array;
+        error?: { service: string; name: string; description: string; stackTrace: string };
+      }[];
     }>(KRPC.Response, await recvRawMessage(this.rpcSocket));
     if (response.results.length === 0) throw new Error('empty AddStream response');
     const r0 = response.results[0];
     if (!r0) throw new Error('empty AddStream result');
-    if (r0.error && r0.error.length > 0) {
-      const err = decodeMessage<{
-        service: string;
-        name: string;
-        description: string;
-        stackTrace: string;
-      }>(KRPC.Error, r0.error);
+    if (r0.error) {
       throw new Error(
-        `AddStream error: ${err.service}.${err.name}: ${err.description}`,
+        `AddStream error: ${r0.error.service}.${r0.error.name}: ${r0.error.description}`,
       );
     }
     const stream = decodeMessage<{ id: number }>(KRPC.Stream, r0.value);
@@ -359,21 +348,20 @@ export class KRPCClient {
       try {
         const raw = await recvRawMessage(this.streamSocket);
         const update = decodeMessage<{
-          results: { id: number; result: { error?: Uint8Array; value: Uint8Array } }[];
+          results: {
+            id: number;
+            result: {
+              error?: { service: string; name: string; description: string; stackTrace: string };
+              value: Uint8Array;
+            };
+          }[];
         }>(KRPC.StreamUpdate, raw);
         for (const r of update.results) {
-          if (r.result.error && r.result.error.length > 0) {
-            const err = decodeMessage<{
-              service: string;
-              name: string;
-              description: string;
-              stackTrace: string;
-            }>(KRPC.Error, r.result.error);
+          if (r.result.error) {
             // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
             console.warn(
-              `[krpc-client] stream ${r.id} error: ${err.service}.${err.name}: ${err.description}`,
+              `[krpc-client] stream ${r.id} error: ${r.result.error.service}.${r.result.error.name}: ${r.result.error.description}`,
             );
-            // Pass empty value so the stream handler sees "no data" rather than crashing
             for (const h of this.streamHandlers) h(r.id, new Uint8Array());
             continue;
           }