diff --git a/import_to_es.py b/import_to_es.py
index ee1ec72..c2ed46f 100755
--- a/import_to_es.py
+++ b/import_to_es.py
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ app = create_app('config')
 es = Elasticsearch(timeout=30)
 ic = IndicesClient(es)
 
+def pad_bytes(in_bytes, size):
+    return in_bytes + (b'\x00' * max(0, size - len(in_bytes)))
+
 # turn into thing that elasticsearch indexes. We flatten in
 # the stats (seeders/leechers) so we can order by them in es naturally.
 # we _don't_ dereference uploader_id to the user's display name however,
@@ -42,7 +45,7 @@ def mk_es(t, index_name):
             "created_time": t.created_time,
             # not analyzed but included so we can render magnet links
             # without querying sql again.
-            "info_hash": t.info_hash.hex(),
+            "info_hash": pad_bytes(t.info_hash, 20).hex(),
             "filesize": t.filesize,
             "uploader_id": t.uploader_id,
             "main_category_id": t.main_category_id,
diff --git a/sync_es.py b/sync_es.py
index 444c905..c4a9025 100755
--- a/sync_es.py
+++ b/sync_es.py
@@ -73,6 +73,9 @@ ES_CHUNK_SIZE = config.get('es_chunk_size', 10000)
 # interacts with es' refresh_interval setting.
 FLUSH_INTERVAL = config.get('flush_interval', 5)
 
+def pad_bytes(in_bytes, size):
+    return in_bytes + (b'\x00' * max(0, size - len(in_bytes)))
+
 def reindex_torrent(t, index_name):
     # XXX annoyingly different from import_to_es, and
     # you need to keep them in sync manually.
@@ -85,7 +88,7 @@ def reindex_torrent(t, index_name):
         "description": t['description'],
         # not analyzed but included so we can render magnet links
         # without querying sql again.
-        "info_hash": t['info_hash'].hex(),
+        "info_hash": pad_bytes(t['info_hash'], 20).hex(),
         "filesize": t['filesize'],
         "uploader_id": t['uploader_id'],
         "main_category_id": t['main_category_id'],