diff --git a/src/idpyoidc/server/client_authn.py b/src/idpyoidc/server/client_authn.py
index c2603d0f..1c62b556 100755
--- a/src/idpyoidc/server/client_authn.py
+++ b/src/idpyoidc/server/client_authn.py
@@ -104,12 +104,12 @@ def basic_authn(authorization_token: str):
     _tok = as_bytes(authorization_token[6:])
     # Will raise ValueError type exception if not base64 encoded
     _tok = base64.b64decode(_tok)
-    part = [unquote_plus(p) for p in as_unicode(_tok).split(":")]
-    if len(part) == 2:
-        return dict(zip(["id", "secret"], part))
-    else:
+    part = as_unicode(_tok).split(":", 1)
+    if len(part) != 2:
         raise ValueError("Illegal token")
 
+    return dict(zip(["id", "secret"], part))
+
 
 class NoneAuthn(ClientAuthnMethod):
     """
diff --git a/tests/test_server_17_client_authn.py b/tests/test_server_17_client_authn.py
index 07441300..4575ecd8 100644
--- a/tests/test_server_17_client_authn.py
+++ b/tests/test_server_17_client_authn.py
@@ -459,11 +459,6 @@ def test_basic_auth_wrong_label():
 
 
 def test_basic_auth_wrong_token():
-    _token = "{}:{}:foo".format(client_id, client_secret)
-    token = as_unicode(base64.b64encode(as_bytes(_token)))
-    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
-        basic_authn("Basic {}".format(token))
-
     _token = "{}:{}".format(client_id, client_secret)
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):
         basic_authn("Basic {}".format(_token))
diff --git a/tests/test_server_20d_client_authn.py b/tests/test_server_20d_client_authn.py
index 38dd29b2..e81d26dd 100755
--- a/tests/test_server_20d_client_authn.py
+++ b/tests/test_server_20d_client_authn.py
@@ -413,11 +413,6 @@ def test_basic_auth_wrong_label():
 
 
 def test_basic_auth_wrong_token():
-    _token = "{}:{}:foo".format(client_id, client_secret)
-    token = as_unicode(base64.b64encode(as_bytes(_token)))
-    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
-        basic_authn("Basic {}".format(token))
-
     _token = "{}:{}".format(client_id, client_secret)
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):
         basic_authn("Basic {}".format(_token))