diff --git a/src/message.cc b/src/message.cc
index 058f5ed..7c65c23 100644
--- a/src/message.cc
+++ b/src/message.cc
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ namespace pEp {
         {
             if (encoding == "") {
                 if (string(_bl->mime_type) == "application/pEp")
-                    encoding = "sync";
+                    encoding = "pep-sync";
                 else
                     encoding = "ascii";
             }
diff --git a/src/message_api.cc b/src/message_api.cc
index 293ac0a..6a52b9c 100644
--- a/src/message_api.cc
+++ b/src/message_api.cc
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ namespace pEp {
             ::config_keep_sync_msg(session, enabled);
         }
 
-        string sync_decode(object buffer)
+        boost::python::tuple sync_decode(object buffer)
         {
             Py_buffer src;
             int result = PyObject_GetBuffer(buffer.ptr(), &src, PyBUF_CONTIG_RO);
@@ -80,10 +80,10 @@ namespace pEp {
 
             string _dst(dst);
             free(dst);
-            return _dst;
+            return boost::python::make_tuple(_dst, 0);
         }
 
-        object sync_encode(string text)
+        static boost::python::tuple sync_encode(string text)
         {
             char *data = NULL;
             size_t size = 0;
@@ -95,7 +95,23 @@ namespace pEp {
             if (!ba)
                 throw bad_alloc();
 
-            return object(handle<>(ba));
+            return boost::python::make_tuple(object(handle<>(ba)), 0);
+        }
+
+        object sync_search(string name)
+        {
+            if (name != "pep-sync") {
+                return object();
+            }
+            else {
+                object codecs = import("codecs");
+                object CodecInfo = codecs.attr("CodecInfo");
+
+                object _sync_decode = make_function(sync_decode);
+                object _sync_encode = make_function(sync_encode);
+
+                return call< object >(CodecInfo.ptr(), _sync_encode, _sync_decode);
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/message_api.hh b/src/message_api.hh
index 780c5c9..6b945fc 100644
--- a/src/message_api.hh
+++ b/src/message_api.hh
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@ namespace pEp {
         boost::python::tuple decrypt_message(Message src);
         int _color(int rating);
         void _config_keep_sync_msg(bool enabled);
-        string sync_decode(object buffer);
-        object sync_encode(string text);
+        object sync_search(string name);
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/pEpmodule.cc b/src/pEpmodule.cc
index 802ca01..84637af 100644
--- a/src/pEpmodule.cc
+++ b/src/pEpmodule.cc
@@ -207,8 +207,6 @@ BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE(pEp)
     def("color", &_color, "calculate color value out of rating");
     def("trustwords", &_trustwords, "calculate trustwords for two Identities");
     def("config_keep_sync_msg", &_config_keep_sync_msg, "configure if sync messages are being kept or not");
-    def("sync_decode", &sync_decode, "decode sync message to XER/XML text");
-    def("sync_encode", &sync_encode, "encode sync message from XER/XML text");
 
     // key sync API
 
@@ -223,6 +221,10 @@ BOOST_PYTHON_MODULE(pEp)
         .def("deliverHandshakeResult", &SyncMixIn::deliverHandshakeResult,
                 "call to deliver the handshake result");
 
+    // codecs
+
+    call< object >(((object)(import("codecs").attr("register"))).ptr(), make_function(sync_search));
+
     // init() and release()
 
     PyModuleDef * _def = PyModule_GetDef(scope().ptr());
diff --git a/test/sync_test.py b/test/sync_test.py
index dea2d53..189a861 100644
--- a/test/sync_test.py
+++ b/test/sync_test.py
@@ -27,21 +27,5 @@ def process(path):
     return Message(text)
 
 
-def sync_search(name):
-    def _sync_decode(input, errors='strict'):
-        return sync_decode(input), 0
-
-    def _sync_encode(input, errors='strict'):
-        return sync_encode(input), 0
-
-    if name != "sync":
-        return None
-    else:
-        return codecs.CodecInfo(_sync_encode, _sync_decode)
-
-
-codecs.register(sync_search)
-
-
 # this is an interactive test, so start it with python -i