diff --git a/spec/unit/utils.spec.ts b/spec/unit/utils.spec.ts
index c03a29909..76123d1ca 100644
--- a/spec/unit/utils.spec.ts
+++ b/spec/unit/utils.spec.ts
@@ -325,9 +325,10 @@ describe("utils", function() {
 
     describe('averageBetweenStrings', () => {
         it('should average appropriately', () => {
-            logger.log(stringToBase("  "));
-            logger.log(stringToBase("!!"));
             expect(averageBetweenStrings("  ", "!!")).toEqual(" P");
+            expect(averageBetweenStrings(" ", "!")).toEqual("  ");
+            expect(averageBetweenStrings('A', 'B')).toEqual('A ');
+            expect(averageBetweenStrings('AA', 'BB')).toEqual('Aq');
             expect(averageBetweenStrings('A', 'z')).toEqual(']');
             expect(averageBetweenStrings('a', 'z', "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz")).toEqual('m');
             expect(averageBetweenStrings('AA', 'zz')).toEqual('^.');
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index 60dec0999..d6b294719 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -568,8 +568,16 @@ export function stringToBase(s: string, alphabet = DEFAULT_ALPHABET): bigint {
 export function averageBetweenStrings(a: string, b: string, alphabet = DEFAULT_ALPHABET): string {
     const padN = Math.max(a.length, b.length);
     const baseA = stringToBase(alphabetPad(a, padN, alphabet), alphabet);
-    const baseB = stringToBase(alphabetPad(b, padN, alphabet), alphabet);
-    return baseToString((baseA + baseB) / BigInt(2), alphabet);
+    let baseB = stringToBase(alphabetPad(b, padN, alphabet), alphabet);
+    let avg = (baseA + baseB) / BigInt(2);
+
+    // Detect integer division conflicts. This happens when two numbers are divided too close so
+    // we lose a .5 precision. We need to add a padding character in these cases.
+    if (avg === baseA || avg == baseB) {
+        return baseToString(avg, alphabet) + alphabet[0];
+    }
+
+    return baseToString(avg, alphabet);
 }
 
 /**