diff --git a/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/download_manager/download_config.py b/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/download_manager/download_config.py
index fa532786507..5e355cfd21c 100644
--- a/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/download_manager/download_config.py
+++ b/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/download_manager/download_config.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import base64
+from typing import Dict, Optional
 
 from configobj import ConfigObj
 from validate import Validator
@@ -15,6 +16,20 @@
 CONFIG_SPEC_PATH = get_lib_path() / 'components/libtorrent/download_manager' / SPEC_FILENAME
 NONPERSISTENT_DEFAULTS = {}
 
+
+def _from_dict(value: Dict) -> str:
+    binary = lt.bencode(value)
+    base64_bytes = base64.b64encode(binary)
+    return base64_bytes.decode('utf-8')
+
+
+def _to_dict(value: str) -> Optional[Dict]:
+    binary = value.encode('utf-8')
+    # b'==' is added to avoid incorrect padding
+    base64_bytes = base64.b64decode(binary + b'==')
+    return bdecode_compat(base64_bytes)
+
+
 class DownloadConfig:
     def __init__(self, config=None, state_dir=None):
         self.config = config or ConfigObj(configspec=str(CONFIG_SPEC_PATH), default_encoding='utf8')
@@ -150,17 +165,17 @@ def set_bootstrap_download(self, value):
     def get_bootstrap_download(self):
         return self.config['download_defaults']['bootstrap_download']
 
-    def set_metainfo(self, metainfo):
-        self.config['state']['metainfo'] = base64.b64encode(lt.bencode(metainfo)).decode('utf-8')
+    def set_metainfo(self, metainfo: Dict):
+        self.config['state']['metainfo'] = _from_dict(metainfo)
 
-    def get_metainfo(self):
-        return bdecode_compat(base64.b64decode(self.config['state']['metainfo'].encode('utf-8')))
+    def get_metainfo(self) -> Optional[Dict]:
+        return _to_dict(self.config['state']['metainfo'])
 
-    def set_engineresumedata(self, engineresumedata):
-        self.config['state']['engineresumedata'] = base64.b64encode(lt.bencode(engineresumedata)).decode('utf-8')
+    def set_engineresumedata(self, engineresumedata: Dict):
+        self.config['state']['engineresumedata'] = _from_dict(engineresumedata)
 
-    def get_engineresumedata(self):
-        return bdecode_compat(base64.b64decode(self.config['state']['engineresumedata'].encode('utf-8')))
+    def get_engineresumedata(self) -> Optional[Dict]:
+        return _to_dict(self.config['state']['engineresumedata'])
 
 
 def get_default_dest_dir():
diff --git a/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/tests/test_download.py b/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/tests/test_download.py
index 225d79395bd..698d72ba96b 100644
--- a/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/tests/test_download.py
+++ b/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/tests/test_download.py
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ async def test_save_resume(mock_handle, test_download, test_tdef):
     basename = hexlify(test_tdef.get_infohash()) + '.conf'
     filename = test_download.dlmgr.get_checkpoint_dir() / basename
     dcfg = DownloadConfig.load(str(filename))
-    assert test_tdef.get_infohash(), dcfg.get_engineresumedata().get(b'info-hash')
+    assert test_tdef.get_infohash() == dcfg.get_engineresumedata().get(b'info-hash')
 
 
 def test_move_storage(mock_handle, test_download, test_tdef, test_tdef_no_metainfo):
diff --git a/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/tests/test_download_config.py b/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/tests/test_download_config.py
index 938bd571b05..f98bf78fa9c 100644
--- a/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/tests/test_download_config.py
+++ b/src/tribler/core/components/libtorrent/tests/test_download_config.py
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
-from configobj import ConfigObjError
-
 import pytest
+from configobj import ConfigObjError
 
-from tribler.core.components.libtorrent.download_manager.download_config import DownloadConfig, get_default_dest_dir
+from tribler.core.components.libtorrent.download_manager.download_config import DownloadConfig, _from_dict, _to_dict, \
+    get_default_dest_dir
 from tribler.core.tests.tools.common import TESTS_DATA_DIR
 
-
 CONFIG_FILES_DIR = TESTS_DATA_DIR / "config_files"
 
 
@@ -71,3 +70,15 @@ def test_user_stopped(download_config):
 
     download_config.set_user_stopped(True)
     assert download_config.get_user_stopped()
+
+
+def test_to_dict():
+    d = {b'a': b'b'}
+    s = _from_dict(d)
+    assert d == _to_dict(s)
+
+
+def test_avoid_incorrect_padding():
+    assert {b'a': b'b'} == _to_dict('ZDE6YTE6YmU==')
+    assert {b'a': b'b'} == _to_dict('ZDE6YTE6YmU=')
+    assert {b'a': b'b'} == _to_dict('ZDE6YTE6YmU')
diff --git a/src/tribler/core/utilities/utilities.py b/src/tribler/core/utilities/utilities.py
index 5c70ebf797c..952f8384064 100644
--- a/src/tribler/core/utilities/utilities.py
+++ b/src/tribler/core/utilities/utilities.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 from base64 import b32decode
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from functools import wraps
-from typing import Set, Tuple
+from typing import Dict, Optional, Set, Tuple
 from urllib.parse import parse_qsl, urlsplit
 
 from tribler.core.components.libtorrent.utils.libtorrent_helper import libtorrent as lt
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ def is_hex_string(text):
         return False
 
 
-def bdecode_compat(packet_buffer):
+def bdecode_compat(packet_buffer: bytes) -> Optional[Dict]:
     """
     Utility method to make libtorrent bdecode() with Python3 in the existing Tribler codebase.
     We should change this when Libtorrent wrapper is refactored.
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ def extract_tags(text: str) -> Tuple[Set[str], str]:
         positions.extend(itertools.chain.from_iterable(m.regs))
     positions.append(len(text))
 
-    remaining_text = ''.join(text[positions[i] : positions[i + 1]] for i in range(0, len(positions) - 1, 2))
+    remaining_text = ''.join(text[positions[i]: positions[i + 1]] for i in range(0, len(positions) - 1, 2))
     return tags, remaining_text