diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yaml b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
index 659c0d8..f5ad1be 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
@@ -16,8 +16,7 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         go-version:
-          - 1.19.x # a minimum supported version(from go.mod)
-          - 1.20.x
+          - 1.20.x # a minimum supported version(from go.mod)
           - 1.21.x
           - 1.22.x
         os: [ ubuntu-latest ]
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 7f538e1..4f3f6e9 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module github.com/mailgun/holster/v4
 
-go 1.19
+go 1.20
 
 require (
 	github.com/Shopify/toxiproxy v2.1.4+incompatible
diff --git a/unsafe/unsafe.go b/unsafe/unsafe.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..82eb14b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unsafe/unsafe.go
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+package unsafe
+
+import (
+	"unsafe"
+)
+
+// BytesToString converts a byte slice to a string without allocation. The
+// returned string reuses the slice byte array. Since Go strings are immutable,
+// the bytes passed to BytesToString must not be modified afterwards.
+func BytesToString(b []byte) string {
+	return unsafe.String(unsafe.SliceData(b), len(b))
+}
+
+// StringToBytes converts a string to a byte slice without allocation. The
+// returned byte slice reuses the underlying string byte array. Since Go
+// strings are immutable, the bytes returned by StringToBytes must not be
+// modified.
+func StringToBytes(s string) []byte {
+	return unsafe.Slice(unsafe.StringData(s), len(s))
+}
diff --git a/unsafe/unsafe_test.go b/unsafe/unsafe_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7497e1e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unsafe/unsafe_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+package unsafe
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestBytesToString(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, "hello", BytesToString([]byte("hello")))
+}
+
+func TestStringToBytes(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, []byte("hello"), StringToBytes("hello"))
+}