diff --git a/lib/eckles.js b/lib/eckles.js
index db2b1e5..cbcf989 100644
--- a/lib/eckles.js
+++ b/lib/eckles.js
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ EC.importSync = function importEcSync(opts) {
     return EC.parseSsh(opts.pem);
   }
   var pem = opts.pem;
-  var u8 = PEM.parseBlock(pem).der;
+  var u8 = PEM.parseBlock(pem).bytes;
   var hex = Enc.bufToHex(u8);
   var jwk = { kty: 'EC', crv: null, x: null, y: null };
 
diff --git a/lib/pem.js b/lib/pem.js
index fdbe3dc..76aec96 100644
--- a/lib/pem.js
+++ b/lib/pem.js
@@ -3,52 +3,24 @@
 var PEM = module.exports;
 var Enc = require('./encoding.js');
 
-// TODO move object id hinting to x509.js
-
-// 1.2.840.10045.3.1.7
-// prime256v1 (ANSI X9.62 named elliptic curve)
-var OBJ_ID_EC  = '06 08 2A8648CE3D030107'.replace(/\s+/g, '').toLowerCase();
-// 1.3.132.0.34
-// secp384r1 (SECG (Certicom) named elliptic curve)
-var OBJ_ID_EC_384 = '06 05 2B81040022'.replace(/\s+/g, '').toLowerCase();
-
 PEM.parseBlock = function pemToDer(pem) {
-  var typ;
-  var pub;
-  var crv;
-  var der = Buffer.from(pem.split(/\n/).filter(function (line, i) {
-    if (0 === i) {
-      if (/ PUBLIC /.test(line)) {
-        pub = true;
-      } else if (/ PRIVATE /.test(line)) {
-        pub = false;
-      }
-      if (/ EC/.test(line)) {
-        typ = 'EC';
-      }
-    }
-    return !/---/.test(line);
-  }).join(''), 'base64');
+  var lines = pem.trim().split(/\n/);
+  var end = lines.length - 1;
+  var head = lines[0].match(/-----BEGIN (.*)-----/);
+  var foot = lines[end].match(/-----END (.*)-----/);
 
-  if (!typ || 'EC' === typ) {
-    var hex = Enc.bufToHex(der);
-    if (-1 !== hex.indexOf(OBJ_ID_EC)) {
-      typ = 'EC';
-      crv = 'P-256';
-    } else if (-1 !== hex.indexOf(OBJ_ID_EC_384)) {
-      typ = 'EC';
-      crv = 'P-384';
-    } else {
-      // TODO support P-384 as well (but probably nothing else)
-      console.warn("unsupported ec curve");
+  if (head) {
+    lines = lines.slice(1, end);
+    head = head[1];
+    if (head !== foot[1]) {
+      throw new Error("headers and footers do not match");
     }
   }
 
-  return { kty: typ, pub: pub, der: der, crv: crv };
+  return { type: head, bytes: Enc.base64ToBuf(lines.join('')) };
 };
 
 PEM.packBlock = function (opts) {
-  // TODO allow for headers?
   return '-----BEGIN ' + opts.type + '-----\n'
     + Enc.bufToBase64(opts.bytes).match(/.{1,64}/g).join('\n') + '\n'
     + '-----END ' + opts.type + '-----'