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..55cbfdf 100644
--- a/lib/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/lib/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 # Changelog
 
-## 2.11.2-git
+## 2.12.0-git
+
+### Minor
+
+- 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..009d00f 100644
--- a/lib/src/lib.rs
+++ b/lib/src/lib.rs
@@ -1521,14 +1521,9 @@ impl Encoding {
     /// - `len <= 2_305843_009213_693951` when `target_pointer_width = "64"`
     ///
     /// If you need to decode an input of length greater than this limit (possibly of infinite
-    /// length), then you must decode your input chunk by chunk with [`decode_mut`], making sure
-    /// that you take into account how many bytes have been read from the input and how many bytes
-    /// have been written to the output:
-    /// - `Ok(written)` means all bytes have been read and `written` bytes have been written
-    /// - `Err(DecodePartial { error, .. })` means an error occurred if `error.kind !=
-    ///   DecodeKind::Length` or this was the last input chunk
-    /// - `Err(DecodePartial { read, written, .. })` means that `read` bytes have been read and
-    ///   `written` bytes written (the error can be ignored)
+    /// length), then you must chunk your input, decode each chunk, and concatenate to obtain the
+    /// output. The number of non-ignored characters of each input chunk (except the last) must be a
+    /// multiple of [`decode_align`].
     ///
     /// 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
@@ -1540,6 +1535,7 @@ 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 +1553,16 @@ 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..b917254 100644
--- a/lib/tests/lib.rs
+++ b/lib/tests/lib.rs
@@ -701,3 +701,25 @@ fn encoder() {
     test(&[b"foob", b"a"], "Zm9vYmE=");
     test(&[b"foob", b"ar"], "Zm9vYmFy");
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn decode_align() {
+    #[track_caller]
+    fn test(chunks: &[&[u8]], expected: &[u8]) {
+        let mut output = Vec::new();
+        for chunk in chunks {
+            let mut buffer = vec![0; data_encoding::BASE64_MIME.decode_len(chunk.len()).unwrap()];
+            let written = data_encoding::BASE64_MIME.decode_mut(chunk, &mut buffer).unwrap();
+            output.extend_from_slice(&buffer[.. written]);
+        }
+        assert_eq!(output, expected);
+    }
+    assert_eq!(data_encoding::BASE64_MIME.decode_align(), 4);
+    test(&[], b"");
+    test(&[b""], b"");
+    test(&[b"Zm9vYmFy"], b"foobar");
+    test(&[b"Zm9v", b"YmFy"], b"foobar");
+    test(&[b"Zm9v", b"Yg=="], b"foob");
+    test(&[b"Zm9v\r\n", b"YmE=\r\n"], b"fooba");
+    test(&[b"Zm9v\r\nYmFy", b"\r\nZm9v"], b"foobarfoo");
+}