diff --git a/bin/Cargo.toml b/bin/Cargo.toml
index 981068a..23883b6 100644
--- a/bin/Cargo.toml
+++ b/bin/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,5 +16,5 @@ name = "data-encoding"
 path = "src/main.rs"
 
 [dependencies]
-data-encoding = { version = "2.11.2-git", path = "../lib" }
+data-encoding = { version = "2.12.0-git", path = "../lib" }
 getopts = "0.2"
diff --git a/lib/CHANGELOG.md b/lib/CHANGELOG.md
index 087a505..9c2b3dd 100644
--- a/lib/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/lib/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 # Changelog
 
-## 2.11.2-git
+## 2.12.0-git
+
+### Minor
+
+- Document the input chunk alignment for `Encoding::decode_mut()`
+- Add `Encoding::decode_align()` to decide where to split long inputs
 
 ### Patch
 
diff --git a/lib/Cargo.toml b/lib/Cargo.toml
index 1288e60..ff6d396 100644
--- a/lib/Cargo.toml
+++ b/lib/Cargo.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [package]
 name = "data-encoding"
-version = "2.11.2-git"
+version = "2.12.0-git"
 license = "MIT"
 edition = "2018"
 rust-version = "1.48"
diff --git a/lib/macro/Cargo.toml b/lib/macro/Cargo.toml
index f89fa0a..83c69b7 100644
--- a/lib/macro/Cargo.toml
+++ b/lib/macro/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,5 +13,5 @@ description = "Macros for data-encoding"
 include = ["Cargo.toml", "LICENSE", "README.md", "src/lib.rs"]
 
 [dependencies]
-data-encoding = { version = "2.11.2-git", path = "..", default-features = false }
+data-encoding = { version = "2.12.0-git", path = "..", default-features = false }
 data-encoding-macro-internal = { version = "0.1.20-git", path = "internal" }
diff --git a/lib/macro/internal/Cargo.toml b/lib/macro/internal/Cargo.toml
index 8c3e517..eab1d2a 100644
--- a/lib/macro/internal/Cargo.toml
+++ b/lib/macro/internal/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ include = ["Cargo.toml", "LICENSE", "README.md", "src/lib.rs"]
 proc-macro = true
 
 [dependencies.data-encoding]
-version = "2.11.2-git"
+version = "2.12.0-git"
 path = "../.."
 default-features = false
 features = ["alloc"]
diff --git a/lib/src/lib.rs b/lib/src/lib.rs
index 225d6dc..6628de8 100644
--- a/lib/src/lib.rs
+++ b/lib/src/lib.rs
@@ -1530,6 +1530,11 @@ impl Encoding {
     /// - `Err(DecodePartial { read, written, .. })` means that `read` bytes have been read and
     ///   `written` bytes written (the error can be ignored)
     ///
+    /// The number of non-ignored characters of each input chunk must be a multiple of
+    /// [`decode_align`]. Bases whose bit-width does not divide 8 and that don't use padding
+    /// otherwise decode a trailing partial group of symbols as the end of the input, so
+    /// `Ok(written)` is returned and the remaining symbols of that group are lost.
+    ///
     /// Note that this function only _may_ panic in those cases. The function may also return the
     /// correct value in some cases depending on the implementation. In other words, those limits
     /// are the guarantee below which the function will not panic, and not the guarantee above which
@@ -1540,6 +1545,7 @@ impl Encoding {
     /// Returns an error if `len` is invalid. The error kind is [`Length`] and the [position] is the
     /// greatest valid input length.
     ///
+    /// [`decode_align`]: struct.Encoding.html#method.decode_align
     /// [`decode_mut`]: struct.Encoding.html#method.decode_mut
     /// [`Length`]: enum.DecodeKind.html#variant.Length
     /// [position]: struct.DecodeError.html#structfield.position
@@ -1557,6 +1563,16 @@ impl Encoding {
         Ok(olen)
     }
 
+    /// Returns the minimum alignment when chunking a long input
+    ///
+    /// See [`decode_len`] for context.
+    ///
+    /// [`decode_len`]: struct.Encoding.html#method.decode_len
+    #[must_use]
+    pub fn decode_align(&self) -> usize {
+        dec(self.bit())
+    }
+
     /// Decodes `input` in `output`
     ///
     /// Returns the length of the decoded output. This length may be smaller than the output length
diff --git a/lib/tests/lib.rs b/lib/tests/lib.rs
index 22aca36..24f721f 100644
--- a/lib/tests/lib.rs
+++ b/lib/tests/lib.rs
@@ -701,3 +701,57 @@ fn encoder() {
     test(&[b"foob", b"a"], "Zm9vYmE=");
     test(&[b"foob", b"ar"], "Zm9vYmFy");
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn decode_align() {
+    // Decodes chunk by chunk as documented by `decode_len`, cutting each chunk after
+    // `decode_align` non-ignored characters.
+    #[track_caller]
+    fn test(base: &Encoding, align: usize) {
+        assert_eq!(base.decode_align(), align);
+        for input in [b"" as &[u8], b"f", b"fo", b"foo", b"foob", b"fooba", b"foobar", &[0; 25]] {
+            let encoded = base.encode(input);
+            let encoded = encoded.as_bytes();
+            let mut output = Vec::new();
+            let mut pos = 0;
+            while pos < encoded.len() {
+                let mut end = pos;
+                let mut count = 0;
+                while end < encoded.len()
+                    && (count < align || base.interpret_byte(encoded[end]).is_ignored())
+                {
+                    count += usize::from(!base.interpret_byte(encoded[end]).is_ignored());
+                    end += 1;
+                }
+                let chunk = &encoded[pos .. end];
+                pos = end;
+                let mut buffer = vec![0; base.decode_len(chunk.len()).unwrap()];
+                let written = base.decode_mut(chunk, &mut buffer).unwrap();
+                output.extend_from_slice(&buffer[.. written]);
+            }
+            assert_eq!(output, input);
+        }
+    }
+    let custom = |symbols| {
+        let mut spec = Specification::new();
+        spec.symbols.push_str(symbols);
+        spec.encoding().unwrap()
+    };
+    test(&custom("01"), 8);
+    test(&custom("0123"), 4);
+    test(&custom("01234567"), 8);
+    test(&data_encoding::HEXLOWER, 2);
+    test(&data_encoding::HEXUPPER, 2);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE32, 8);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE32_NOPAD, 8);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE32HEX, 8);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE32HEX_NOPAD, 8);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE32_DNSSEC, 8);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE32_DNSCURVE, 8);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE64, 4);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE64_NOPAD, 4);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE64_MIME, 4);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE64_MIME_PERMISSIVE, 4);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE64URL, 4);
+    test(&data_encoding::BASE64URL_NOPAD, 4);
+}