diff --git a/src/etcp_connections.c b/src/etcp_connections.c
index 367f7166..60b2c514 100644
--- a/src/etcp_connections.c
+++ b/src/etcp_connections.c
@@ -2046,7 +2046,7 @@ int init_connections(struct UTUN_INSTANCE* instance) {
             
             DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CRYPTO, "init_connections: setting peer public key for client %s", client->name);
             // Set peer public key (assuming hex format)
-            if (sc_set_peer_public_key(&etcp_conn->crypto_ctx, client->peer_public_key_hex, 1) != SC_OK) {
+            if (sc_set_peer_public_key(&etcp_conn->crypto_ctx, (const uint8_t*)client->peer_public_key_hex, 1) != SC_OK) {
                 DEBUG_ERROR(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CRYPTO, "init_connections: failed to set peer public key for client %s", client->name);
             } else {
                 DEBUG_INFO(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CRYPTO, "init_connections: successfully set peer public key for client %s", client->name);
diff --git a/src/utun_instance.c b/src/utun_instance.c
index 48b53c58..703f4a7e 100644
--- a/src/utun_instance.c
+++ b/src/utun_instance.c
@@ -633,7 +633,7 @@ struct UTUN_INSTANCE *utun_instance_reload(struct UTUN_INSTANCE *instance, struc
         if (!conn) {
             conn = etcp_connection_create(instance, nc->name);
             if (conn) {
-                sc_set_peer_public_key(&conn->crypto_ctx, nc->peer_public_key_hex, 1);
+                sc_set_peer_public_key(&conn->crypto_ctx, (const uint8_t*)nc->peer_public_key_hex, 1);
                 if (random_bytes((uint8_t*)&conn->session_id, sizeof(conn->session_id)) != 0) {
                     DEBUG_ERROR(DEBUG_CATEGORY_CRYPTO, "Failed to generate session_id for client %s", nc->name);
                     conn->session_id = 0;
diff --git a/tests/test_etcp_crypto.c b/tests/test_etcp_crypto.c
index 6e5d425b..053d8c78 100644
--- a/tests/test_etcp_crypto.c
+++ b/tests/test_etcp_crypto.c
@@ -37,8 +37,8 @@ int main() {
     }
     
     // Initialize ECC system (may fail with test keys, but needed for RNG)
-    sc_set_peer_public_key(&client_ctx, (const char*)server_keys.public_key, 0);
-    sc_set_peer_public_key(&server_ctx, (const char*)client_keys.public_key, 0);
+    sc_set_peer_public_key(&client_ctx, server_keys.public_key, 0);
+    sc_set_peer_public_key(&server_ctx, client_keys.public_key, 0);
     
     // Manual setup for test keys
     memcpy(client_ctx.peer_public_key, server_keys.public_key, SC_PUBKEY_SIZE);