diff --git a/packages/polka/index.js b/packages/polka/index.js
index 19f23b0..43c3b45 100644
--- a/packages/polka/index.js
+++ b/packages/polka/index.js
@@ -61,10 +61,13 @@ class Polka extends Router {
 	}
 
 	handler(req, res, next) {
-		let info = this.parse(req, true);
+		let info = this.parse(req);
 		let obj = this.find(req.method, req.path=info.pathname);
 
-		req.params = obj.params;
+		req.params = {};
+		for (let key in obj.params) {
+			req.params[key] = decodeURIComponent(obj.params[key]);
+		}
 		req.originalUrl = req.originalUrl || req.url;
 		req.url = info.pathname + info.search;
 		req.query = info.query || {};
diff --git a/packages/polka/test/index.js b/packages/polka/test/index.js
index 006afd3..f985477 100644
--- a/packages/polka/test/index.js
+++ b/packages/polka/test/index.js
@@ -1425,16 +1425,16 @@ test('HEAD', async () => {
 });
 
 
-test('decode url', async () => {
+test('encoded url', async () => {
 	// t.plan(8);
 
 	let sub = (
 		polka()
 			.get('/:foo', (req, res) => {
 				assert.ok('~> inside "GET /sub/:foo" handler')
-				assert.ok(req._decoded, '~> marked as decoded');
-				assert.is(req.path, '/føøß∂r', '~> decoded "path" value');
-				assert.is(req.url, '/føøß∂r?phone=%2b8675309', '~> decoded "url" value partially');
+				assert.ok(!req._decoded, '~> not marked as decoded');
+				assert.is(req.path, '/f%C3%B8%C3%B8%C3%9F%E2%88%82r', '~> "path" value');
+				assert.is(req.url, '/f%C3%B8%C3%B8%C3%9F%E2%88%82r?phone=%2b8675309', '~> "url" value');
 				assert.is(req.params.foo, 'føøß∂r', '~> decoded "params.foo" segment');
 				assert.is(req.query.phone, '+8675309', '~~> does NOT decode "req.query" keys twice');
 				res.end('done');
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 62f2380..b93cf10 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -126,22 +126,12 @@ You may also pass a sub-application, which _must_ be accompanied by a `base` pat
 Please see [`Middleware`](#middleware) and [Express' middleware examples](http://expressjs.com/en/4x/api.html#middleware-callback-function-examples) for more info.
 
 
-### parse(req, toDecode=true)
+### parse(req, toDecode=false)
 
 Returns: `Object` or `undefined`
 
 As of `v0.5.0`, this is an alias of the [`@polka/url`](/packages/url) module. For nearly all cases, you'll notice no changes.
 
-One important difference is that URL decoding is enabled by default in polka but it is disabled by default in the `@polka/url` module. You can disable the URL decoding if required,
-
-```js
-const app = polka();
-const { parse } = require('@polka/url');
-app.parse = (req, toDecode) => {
-  return parse(req, false); // or simply, return parse(req);
-}
-```
-
 But, for whatever reason, you can quickly swap in [`parseurl`](https://github.com/pillarjs/parseurl) again:
 
 ```js