diff --git a/p2p/message.go b/p2p/message.go
index 845c832f0..d3b8b74d4 100644
--- a/p2p/message.go
+++ b/p2p/message.go
@@ -41,13 +41,6 @@ func encodePayload(params ...interface{}) []byte {
 	return buf.Bytes()
 }
 
-// Value returns the decoded RLP payload items in a message.
-func (msg Msg) Value() (*ethutil.Value, error) {
-	var v []interface{}
-	err := msg.Decode(&v)
-	return ethutil.NewValue(v), err
-}
-
 // Decode parse the RLP content of a message into
 // the given value, which must be a pointer.
 //
@@ -84,31 +77,6 @@ type MsgReadWriter interface {
 	MsgWriter
 }
 
-// MsgLoop reads messages off the given reader and
-// calls the handler function for each decoded message until
-// it returns an error or the peer connection is closed.
-//
-// If a message is larger than the given maximum size,
-// MsgLoop returns an appropriate error.
-func MsgLoop(r MsgReader, maxsize uint32, f func(code uint64, data *ethutil.Value) error) error {
-	for {
-		msg, err := r.ReadMsg()
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if msg.Size > maxsize {
-			return newPeerError(errInvalidMsg, "size %d exceeds maximum size of %d", msg.Size, maxsize)
-		}
-		value, err := msg.Value()
-		if err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-		if err := f(msg.Code, value); err != nil {
-			return err
-		}
-	}
-}
-
 var magicToken = []byte{34, 64, 8, 145}
 
 func writeMsg(w io.Writer, msg Msg) error {
diff --git a/p2p/message_test.go b/p2p/message_test.go
index 0f51f759e..7b39b061d 100644
--- a/p2p/message_test.go
+++ b/p2p/message_test.go
@@ -29,8 +29,7 @@ func TestEncodeDecodeMsg(t *testing.T) {
 	if err := writeMsg(buf, msg); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("encodeMsg error: %v", err)
 	}
-
-	t.Logf("encoded: %x", buf.Bytes())
+	// t.Logf("encoded: %x", buf.Bytes())
 
 	decmsg, err := readMsg(buf)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -42,18 +41,19 @@ func TestEncodeDecodeMsg(t *testing.T) {
 	if decmsg.Size != 5 {
 		t.Errorf("incorrect size %d, want %d", decmsg.Size, 5)
 	}
-	data, err := decmsg.Value()
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("first payload item decode error: %v", err)
+
+	var data struct {
+		I int
+		S string
 	}
-	if v := data.Len(); v != 2 {
-		t.Errorf("incorrect data.Len(): got %v, expected %d", v, 1)
+	if err := decmsg.Decode(&data); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Decode error: %v", err)
 	}
-	if v := data.Get(0).Uint(); v != 1 {
-		t.Errorf("incorrect data[0]: got %v, expected %d", v, 1)
+	if data.I != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("incorrect data.I: got %v, expected %d", data.I, 1)
 	}
-	if v := data.Get(1).Str(); v != "000" {
-		t.Errorf("incorrect data[1]: got %q, expected %q", v, "000")
+	if data.S != "000" {
+		t.Errorf("incorrect data.S: got %q, expected %q", data.S, "000")
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/p2p/peer_test.go b/p2p/peer_test.go
index 629475421..0994683a2 100644
--- a/p2p/peer_test.go
+++ b/p2p/peer_test.go
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ package p2p
 
 import (
 	"bufio"
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"net"
-	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 )
@@ -53,13 +55,13 @@ func TestPeerProtoReadMsg(t *testing.T) {
 			if msg.Code != 2 {
 				t.Errorf("incorrect msg code %d relayed to protocol", msg.Code)
 			}
-			data, err := msg.Value()
+			data, err := ioutil.ReadAll(msg.Payload)
 			if err != nil {
-				t.Errorf("data decoding error: %v", err)
+				t.Errorf("payload read error: %v", err)
 			}
-			expdata := []interface{}{[]byte{0x01}, []byte{0x30, 0x30, 0x30}}
-			if !reflect.DeepEqual(data.Slice(), expdata) {
-				t.Errorf("incorrect msg data %#v", data.Slice())
+			expdata, _ := hex.DecodeString("0183303030")
+			if !bytes.Equal(expdata, data) {
+				t.Errorf("incorrect msg data %x", data)
 			}
 			close(done)
 			return nil