diff --git a/lib/hypher.js b/lib/hypher.js
index 2278d7b..72c12a3 100644
--- a/lib/hypher.js
+++ b/lib/hypher.js
@@ -50,11 +50,6 @@ Hypher.TrieNode;
 Hypher.prototype.createTrie = function (patternObject) {
     var size = 0,
         i = 0,
-        c = 0,
-        p = 0,
-        chars = null,
-        points = null,
-        codePoint = null,
         t = null,
         tree = {
             _points: []
@@ -63,27 +58,35 @@ Hypher.prototype.createTrie = function (patternObject) {
 
     for (size in patternObject) {
         if (patternObject.hasOwnProperty(size)) {
-            patterns = patternObject[size].match(new RegExp('.{1,' + (+size) + '}', 'g'));
-
-            for (i = 0; i < patterns.length; i += 1) {
-                chars = patterns[i].replace(/[0-9]/g, '').split('');
-                points = patterns[i].split(/\D/);
+            size = +size;
+            for (i = 0; i < patternObject[size].length; i += size) {
                 t = tree;
 
-                for (c = 0; c < chars.length; c += 1) {
-                    codePoint = chars[c].charCodeAt(0);
+                const points = [];
+                let prev = 0;
 
-                    if (!t[codePoint]) {
-                        t[codePoint] = {};
+                for (let j = 0; j < size; j++) {
+                    const char = patternObject[size][i + j];
+                    if (!char) {
+                        break;
+                    }
+                    const codePoint = char.charCodeAt(0);
+                    if (codePoint >= 48 && codePoint <= 57) {
+                        points.push(+char);
+                    } else {
+                        if (prev < 48 || prev > 57) {
+                            points.push(0);
+                        }
+                        
+                        if (!t[codePoint]) {
+                            t[codePoint] = {};
+                        }
+                        t = t[codePoint];
                     }
-                    t = t[codePoint];
+                    prev = codePoint;
                 }
 
-                t._points = [];
-
-                for (p = 0; p < points.length; p += 1) {
-                    t._points[p] = points[p] || 0;
-                }
+                t._points = points;
             }
         }
     }
@@ -129,7 +132,6 @@ Hypher.prototype.hyphenateText = function (str, minLength) {
 Hypher.prototype.hyphenate = function (word) {
     var characters,
         characterPoints = [],
-        originalCharacters,
         i,
         j,
         k,
@@ -153,8 +155,7 @@ Hypher.prototype.hyphenate = function (word) {
 
     word = '_' + word + '_';
 
-    characters = word.toLowerCase().split('');
-    originalCharacters = word.split('');
+    characters = word.toLowerCase();
     wordLength = characters.length;
 
     for (i = 0; i < wordLength; i += 1) {
@@ -182,9 +183,9 @@ Hypher.prototype.hyphenate = function (word) {
 
     for (i = 1; i < wordLength - 1; i += 1) {
         if (i > this.leftMin && i < (wordLength - this.rightMin) && points[i] % 2) {
-            result.push(originalCharacters[i]);
+            result.push(word[i]);
         } else {
-            result[result.length - 1] += originalCharacters[i];
+            result[result.length - 1] += word[i];
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 561b594..cf4eb71 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
   "author": "Bram Stein <b.l.stein@gmail.com> (http://www.bramstein.com)",
   "devDependencies": {
     "benchmark": "=0.1.347",
-    "microtime": "^2.1.3",
     "vows": ">=0.5.6"
   },
   "directories": {
diff --git a/test/benchmark.js b/test/benchmark.js
index 6c4e788..bbbc7de 100644
--- a/test/benchmark.js
+++ b/test/benchmark.js
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ suite.add('Hypher', hypherDictionary, {
     setup: hypherSetup
 });
 
+suite.add('Hypher (createTrie)', hypherSetup);
+
 suite.add('Hyphenator', hyphenatorDictionary, {
     setup: hyphenatorSetup
 });
diff --git a/test/hypher-test.js b/test/hypher-test.js
index 3235a08..1aea7b0 100644
--- a/test/hypher-test.js
+++ b/test/hypher-test.js
@@ -70,13 +70,13 @@ vows.describe('Hypher').addBatch({
                 97: {
                     _points: [0, 1],
                     98: {
-                        _points: [0, 2, 0]
+                        _points: [0, 2]
                     }
                 },
                 98: {
                     _points: [0, 2],
                     99: {
-                        _points: [0, 3, 0]
+                        _points: [0, 3]
                     }
                 },
                 _points: []