diff --git a/src/tsv/cli/import/mod.rs b/src/tsv/cli/import/mod.rs
index 72946c5c..6c0cb91d 100644
--- a/src/tsv/cli/import/mod.rs
+++ b/src/tsv/cli/import/mod.rs
@@ -79,23 +79,21 @@ pub fn process_tsv_line(
     db: &rocksdb::DBWithThreadMode<rocksdb::MultiThreaded>,
     cf_data: &std::sync::Arc<rocksdb::BoundColumnFamily>,
 ) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error> {
-    let line = line;
     let values = ctx.line_to_values(line)?;
     let values = values.iter().collect::<Vec<_>>();
     let var = ctx.values_to_var(&values)?;
 
     if let Some(var) = var.as_ref() {
         let key: Vec<u8> = var.clone().into();
-        let value = ctx.encode_values(&values)?;
 
         tracing::trace!(
             "putting for var = {:?}, key = {:?}, value = {:?}",
             &var,
             &key,
-            &value
+            &line.as_bytes()
         );
 
-        db.put_cf(cf_data, key, value)?;
+        db.put_cf(cf_data, key, line.as_bytes())?;
     } else {
         tracing::trace!("skipping line: {:?}", &line);
     }
diff --git a/src/tsv/cli/query.rs b/src/tsv/cli/query.rs
index 336ac658..27eb16cd 100644
--- a/src/tsv/cli/query.rs
+++ b/src/tsv/cli/query.rs
@@ -154,7 +154,8 @@ fn query_for_variant(
     let raw_value = db
         .get_cf(&cf_data, key)?
         .ok_or_else(|| anyhow::anyhow!("could not find variant in database"))?;
-    let values = ctx.decode_values(&raw_value)?;
+    let line = std::str::from_utf8(raw_value.as_slice())?;
+    let values = ctx.line_to_values(line)?;
 
     Ok(values)
 }
@@ -229,8 +230,8 @@ pub fn run(common: &common::cli::Args, args: &Args) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error>
 
         // Iterate over all variants until we are behind stop.
         while iter.valid() {
-            if let Some(value) = iter.value() {
-                tracing::trace!("iterator at {:?} => {:?}", &iter.key(), &value);
+            if let Some(line_raw) = iter.value() {
+                tracing::trace!("iterator at {:?} => {:?}", &iter.key(), &line_raw);
                 if let Some(stop) = stop.as_ref() {
                     let iter_key = iter.key().unwrap();
                     let iter_pos: keys::Pos = iter_key.into();
@@ -240,7 +241,8 @@ pub fn run(common: &common::cli::Args, args: &Args) -> Result<(), anyhow::Error>
                     }
                 }
 
-                let values = ctx.decode_values(value)?;
+                let line = std::str::from_utf8(line_raw)?;
+                let values = ctx.line_to_values(line)?;
                 print_values(&mut out_writer, args.out_format, &meta, values)?;
                 iter.next();
             } else {
diff --git a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/000014.sst b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/000014.sst
index f5d2fafb..0eab9581 100644
--- a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/000014.sst
+++ b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/000014.sst
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
-oid sha256:921f0cba893131f55458962b3e5c1d63bd6310bf13e7a5278ef7e29b1f0b9876
-size 1491
+oid sha256:68a63d77b7cc5ac1be7c681654faa4dcd6fd6d6982d7aa606ad639e0f53bc021
+size 1507
diff --git a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/000016.sst b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/000016.sst
index 65d02afc..156a2076 100644
--- a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/000016.sst
+++ b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/000016.sst
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
-oid sha256:6b0f6c71619ac026fc6e08943c886f2893ef91063c2866ca1f97f5cc5c7a5f1a
-size 1213
+oid sha256:e04e0725aa79e411bb109ee9b0f6f139c27ec1b1e91e5c38aa48d3060a619c51
+size 1211
diff --git a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/IDENTITY b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/IDENTITY
index 20c4ca66..984dab87 100644
--- a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/IDENTITY
+++ b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/IDENTITY
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
-oid sha256:80dc4cfd38f3b671e57311a136418eaa9efd36c0d736d421693dd8f1df335fe7
+oid sha256:a8827ed095e73220604adece26d77d3ac32ba75dfe3936b16847b401dd642557
 size 36
diff --git a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/LOG b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/LOG
index 6e376cd0..c63c33e1 100644
--- a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/LOG
+++ b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/LOG
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
-oid sha256:5b41c8c796e3d35d8146c5135edcdcd420ce504e35d26a73518f8d43c7b055d3
-size 61922
+oid sha256:d11532a911006a9994d5ee4a73519c687b581d44d74ddbb5afefcac9f4323954
+size 62197
diff --git a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/MANIFEST-000005 b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/MANIFEST-000005
index fb58f017..32ece643 100644
--- a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/MANIFEST-000005
+++ b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/MANIFEST-000005
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
-oid sha256:5603615b42dec440148a740fec019aa1ce494f35dab305c0f22a5a04a7e5e3c4
-size 658
+oid sha256:a69597f6f5d25269527304e9510dfe7a834a7ddea64c907ce5bba630ae10c503
+size 660
diff --git a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/OPTIONS-000009 b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/OPTIONS-000009
index cc5acc38..980aac71 100644
--- a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/OPTIONS-000009
+++ b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/OPTIONS-000009
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
-oid sha256:a4be9b1220e95144635b1e9799869b4b1ba1e4c7b9e89dd798b46c0d4db8982e
-size 15443
+oid sha256:ee6dd4f8e2aa31e8d89ef081023ad364bb49140da2d490da687b3991aeb58c3f
+size 15371
diff --git a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/OPTIONS-000011 b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/OPTIONS-000011
index cc5acc38..980aac71 100644
--- a/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/OPTIONS-000011
+++ b/tests/tsv/example/data.tsv.gz.db/OPTIONS-000011
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1
-oid sha256:a4be9b1220e95144635b1e9799869b4b1ba1e4c7b9e89dd798b46c0d4db8982e
-size 15443
+oid sha256:ee6dd4f8e2aa31e8d89ef081023ad364bb49140da2d490da687b3991aeb58c3f
+size 15371