diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index 1e97451..b6981c5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -36,12 +36,10 @@ jobs:
         run: go get .
       - name: Test
         run: go test -cover -vet all -coverprofile cover.out .
-      - name: Coverage Check
-        run: |
-          go tool cover -func ./cover.out
-          val=$(go tool cover -func cover.out | fgrep total | awk '{print $3}')
-          if [[ "100.0%" != $val ]] 
-          then
-            echo 'Test coverage is less than 100.0%'
-            exit 1
-          fi
+      - name: Coverage report
+        run: go tool cover -html ./cover.out -o cover.html
+      - name: Archive coverage report
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+        with:
+          name: coverage.html
+          path: ./cover.html
diff --git a/bucket.go b/bucket.go
index 890a08d..0fe83fb 100644
--- a/bucket.go
+++ b/bucket.go
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
 package leaky
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"encoding/binary"
-	"encoding/gob"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -13,10 +11,6 @@ import (
 
 var ErrBucketFull = errors.New("leaky: bucket full or would overflow")
 
-func init() {
-	gob.Register(&Bucket{})
-}
-
 type Bucket struct {
 	DrainBy       int64
 	DrainInterval time.Duration
@@ -53,7 +47,7 @@ func DecodeBucket(r io.Reader) (*Bucket, error) {
 	// Check format version
 	format := int32(0)
 	if err := binary.Read(r, binary.BigEndian, &format); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to read format version"), err)
 	}
 	if format != 1 {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("leaky: unsupported format version %d", format)
@@ -61,57 +55,68 @@ func DecodeBucket(r io.Reader) (*Bucket, error) {
 
 	// Read fields in write order
 	if err := binary.Read(r, binary.BigEndian, &bucket.DrainBy); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to read `DrainBy`"), err)
 	}
 	if err := binary.Read(r, binary.BigEndian, &bucket.DrainInterval); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to read `DrainInterval`"), err)
 	}
 	if err := binary.Read(r, binary.BigEndian, &bucket.Capacity); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to read `Capacity`"), err)
 	}
 	if err := binary.Read(r, binary.BigEndian, &bucket.value); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return nil, errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to read `value`"), err)
+	}
+	timestampSize := int32(0)
+	if err := binary.Read(r, binary.BigEndian, &timestampSize); err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to read size of `lastDrain`"), err)
 	}
-	lastDrainMs := int64(0)
-	if err := binary.Read(r, binary.BigEndian, &lastDrainMs); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	timestampBytes := make([]byte, timestampSize)
+	if c, err := r.Read(timestampBytes); err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to read `lastDrain`"), err)
+	} else if int32(c) != timestampSize {
+		return nil, errors.New("leaky: did not read entire timestamp")
+	}
+	if err := bucket.lastDrain.UnmarshalBinary(timestampBytes); err != nil {
+		return nil, errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to unmarshal `lastDrain`"), err)
 	}
-	bucket.lastDrain = time.UnixMilli(lastDrainMs)
 
 	return bucket, nil
 }
 
 func (b *Bucket) Encode(w io.Writer) error {
-	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
-
 	b.lock.Lock()
 	defer b.lock.Unlock()
 
 	// Format version
-	if err := binary.Write(buf, binary.BigEndian, int32(1)); err != nil {
+	if err := binary.Write(w, binary.BigEndian, int32(1)); err != nil {
 		return errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to write format version"), err)
 	}
 
 	// Fields, ordered
-	if err := binary.Write(buf, binary.BigEndian, b.DrainBy); err != nil {
+	if err := binary.Write(w, binary.BigEndian, b.DrainBy); err != nil {
 		return errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to write `DrainBy`"), err)
 	}
-	if err := binary.Write(buf, binary.BigEndian, b.DrainInterval); err != nil {
+	if err := binary.Write(w, binary.BigEndian, b.DrainInterval); err != nil {
 		return errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to write `DrainInterval`"), err)
 	}
-	if err := binary.Write(buf, binary.BigEndian, b.Capacity); err != nil {
+	if err := binary.Write(w, binary.BigEndian, b.Capacity); err != nil {
 		return errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to write `Capacity`"), err)
 	}
-	if err := binary.Write(buf, binary.BigEndian, b.value); err != nil {
+	if err := binary.Write(w, binary.BigEndian, b.value); err != nil {
 		return errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to write `value`"), err)
 	}
-	if err := binary.Write(buf, binary.BigEndian, b.lastDrain.UnixMilli()); err != nil {
-		return errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to write `lastDrain`"), err)
+	if timestampBytes, err := b.lastDrain.MarshalBinary(); err != nil {
+		return errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to marshal `lastDrain`"), err)
+	} else {
+		if err := binary.Write(w, binary.BigEndian, int32(len(timestampBytes))); err != nil {
+			return errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to write length of `lastDrain`"), err)
+		}
+		if _, err := w.Write(timestampBytes); err != nil {
+			return errors.Join(errors.New("leaky: unable to write `lastDrain`"), err)
+		}
 	}
 
-	// Write and return
-	_, err := w.Write(buf.Bytes())
-	return err
+	return nil
 }
 
 func (b *Bucket) drain() {
diff --git a/bucket_test.go b/bucket_test.go
index 39b73f7..f23d0f4 100644
--- a/bucket_test.go
+++ b/bucket_test.go
@@ -1,13 +1,53 @@
 package leaky
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"errors"
+	"io"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
 )
 
+type faultyReaderWriter struct {
+	io.Reader
+	io.Writer
+
+	FailOnReadOp  int // 1 indexed
+	FailOnWriteOp int // 1 indexed
+	Buffer        *bytes.Buffer
+
+	readOp  int
+	writeOp int
+}
+
+func newFaultyReaderWriter(failReadOp int, failWriteOp int) *faultyReaderWriter {
+	return &faultyReaderWriter{
+		FailOnReadOp:  failReadOp,
+		FailOnWriteOp: failWriteOp,
+		Buffer:        &bytes.Buffer{},
+		readOp:        0,
+		writeOp:       0,
+	}
+}
+
+func (rw *faultyReaderWriter) Read(b []byte) (int, error) {
+	rw.readOp++
+	if rw.readOp == rw.FailOnReadOp {
+		return 0, errors.New("read error")
+	}
+	return rw.Buffer.Read(b)
+}
+
+func (rw *faultyReaderWriter) Write(b []byte) (int, error) {
+	rw.writeOp++
+	if rw.writeOp == rw.FailOnWriteOp {
+		return 0, errors.New("write error")
+	}
+	return rw.Buffer.Write(b)
+}
+
 var createCaseFunctions = []func(drainBy int64, drainEvery time.Duration, capacity int64) (*Bucket, error){
 	func(drainBy int64, drainEvery time.Duration, capacity int64) (*Bucket, error) {
 		return &Bucket{
@@ -53,6 +93,112 @@ func TestNewBucket(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, false, bucket.lastDrain.IsZero()) // ensure we set a timestamp
 }
 
+func TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(t *testing.T) {
+	for i, createFn := range createCaseFunctions {
+		bucket, err := createFn(5, time.Minute, 300)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(case:%d): unexpected error %v", i, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		bucket.value = 42                                            // force a given value
+		bucket.lastDrain = time.Now().Add(-1 * bucket.DrainInterval) // prepare for 1 drain operation
+
+		// Encode
+		buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+		if err = bucket.Encode(buf); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(case:%d): unexpected encode error %v", i, err)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		// Decode
+		var bucket2 *Bucket
+		if bucket2, err = DecodeBucket(buf); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(case:%d): unexpected decode error %v", i, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		assert.NotEqualf(t, bucket, bucket2, "TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(case:%d)", i)
+		assert.Equalf(t, bucket.DrainBy, bucket2.DrainBy, "TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(case:%d)", i)
+		assert.Equalf(t, bucket.DrainInterval, bucket2.DrainInterval, "TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(case:%d)", i)
+		assert.Equalf(t, bucket.Capacity, bucket2.Capacity, "TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(case:%d)", i)
+		assert.Equalf(t, bucket.value, bucket2.value, "TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(case:%d)", i)
+		assert.Equalf(t, 0, bucket2.lastDrain.Compare(bucket.lastDrain), "TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(case:%d)", i)
+		assert.Equalf(t, bucket.lastDrain.UnixNano(), bucket2.lastDrain.UnixNano(), "TestBucketEncodeThenDecode(case:%d)", i)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBucket_Encode(t *testing.T) {
+	for i, createFn := range createCaseFunctions {
+		bucket, err := createFn(5, time.Minute, 300)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("TestBucket_Encode(case:%d): unexpected error %v", i, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		bucket.value = 42                                            // force a given value
+		bucket.lastDrain = time.Now().Add(-1 * bucket.DrainInterval) // prepare for 1 drain operation
+
+		errorMessages := []string{
+			"leaky: unable to write format version",
+			"leaky: unable to write `DrainBy`",
+			"leaky: unable to write `DrainInterval`",
+			"leaky: unable to write `Capacity`",
+			"leaky: unable to write `value`",
+			//"leaky: unable to marshal `lastDrain`",
+			"leaky: unable to write length of `lastDrain`",
+			"leaky: unable to write `lastDrain`",
+		}
+		for j, message := range errorMessages {
+			rw := newFaultyReaderWriter(j+1, j+1)
+			if err = bucket.Encode(rw); err != nil {
+				assert.ErrorContainsf(t, err, message, "TestBucket_Encode(case:%d,msg:%d)", i, j)
+			} else {
+				t.Errorf("TestBucket_Encode(case:%d,msg:%d): expected error %s", i, j, message)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestBucket_Decode(t *testing.T) {
+	for i, createFn := range createCaseFunctions {
+		bucket, err := createFn(5, time.Minute, 300)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("TestBucket_Decode(case:%d): unexpected error %v", i, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		bucket.value = 42                                            // force a given value
+		bucket.lastDrain = time.Now().Add(-1 * bucket.DrainInterval) // prepare for 1 drain operation
+
+		buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+		if err = bucket.Encode(buf); err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("TestBucket_Decode(case:%d): unexpected error %v", i, err)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		errorMessages := []string{
+			"leaky: unable to read format version",
+			//"leaky: unsupported format version %d",
+			"leaky: unable to read `DrainBy`",
+			"leaky: unable to read `DrainInterval`",
+			"leaky: unable to read `Capacity`",
+			"leaky: unable to read `value`",
+			"leaky: unable to read size of `lastDrain`",
+			"leaky: unable to read `lastDrain`",
+			//"leaky: did not read entire timestamp",
+			//"leaky: unable to unmarshal `lastDrain`",
+		}
+		for j, message := range errorMessages {
+			rw := newFaultyReaderWriter(j+1, j+1)
+			rw.Buffer = bytes.NewBuffer(buf.Bytes())
+			bucket2, err := DecodeBucket(rw)
+			assert.Nilf(t, bucket2, "TestBucket_Decode(case:%d,msg:%d)", i, j)
+			if err != nil {
+				assert.ErrorContainsf(t, err, message, "TestBucket_Decode(case:%d,msg:%d)", i, j)
+			} else {
+				t.Errorf("TestBucket_Decode(case:%d,msg:%d): expected error %s", i, j, message)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 func TestBucket_drain(t *testing.T) {
 	for i, createFn := range createCaseFunctions {
 		bucket, err := createFn(5, time.Minute, 300)