diff --git a/src/e2ee.rs b/src/e2ee.rs
index 0779da3b8..a09298ce1 100644
--- a/src/e2ee.rs
+++ b/src/e2ee.rs
@@ -83,12 +83,15 @@ impl EncryptHelper {
             None
         };
 
+        let shared_secret = shared_secret.to_string();
         let mut raw_message = Vec::new();
         let cursor = Cursor::new(&mut raw_message);
         mail_to_encrypt.clone().write_part(cursor).ok();
 
-        let ctext =
-            pgp::symm_encrypt_message(raw_message, sign_key, shared_secret, compress).await?;
+        let ctext = tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
+            pgp::symm_encrypt_message(raw_message, sign_key, shared_secret, compress)
+        })
+        .await??;
 
         Ok(ctext)
     }
diff --git a/src/mimeparser/shared_secret_decryption_tests.rs b/src/mimeparser/shared_secret_decryption_tests.rs
index 3364b4b42..f6aed1d1e 100644
--- a/src/mimeparser/shared_secret_decryption_tests.rs
+++ b/src/mimeparser/shared_secret_decryption_tests.rs
@@ -48,10 +48,9 @@ async fn test_shared_secret_decryption_ex(
     let encrypted_msg = pgp::symm_encrypt_message(
         plain_text.as_bytes().to_vec(),
         signer_key,
-        secret_for_encryption,
+        secret_for_encryption.to_string(),
         true,
-    )
-    .await?;
+    )?;
 
     let boundary = "boundary123";
     let rcvd_mail = format!(
diff --git a/src/pgp.rs b/src/pgp.rs
index 8e1d27555..f573e5468 100644
--- a/src/pgp.rs
+++ b/src/pgp.rs
@@ -254,44 +254,41 @@ pub fn pk_validate(
 /// Symmetrically encrypt the message.
 /// This is used for broadcast channels and for version 2 of the Securejoin protocol.
 /// `shared secret` is the secret that will be used for symmetric encryption.
-pub async fn symm_encrypt_message(
+pub fn symm_encrypt_message(
     plain: Vec<u8>,
     private_key_for_signing: Option<SignedSecretKey>,
-    shared_secret: &str,
+    shared_secret: String,
     compress: bool,
 ) -> Result<String> {
-    let shared_secret = Password::from(shared_secret.to_string());
+    let shared_secret = Password::from(shared_secret);
 
-    tokio::task::spawn_blocking(move || {
-        let msg = MessageBuilder::from_bytes("", plain);
-        let mut rng = thread_rng();
-        let mut salt = [0u8; 8];
-        rng.fill(&mut salt[..]);
-        let s2k = StringToKey::Salted {
-            hash_alg: HashAlgorithm::default(),
-            salt,
-        };
-        let mut msg = msg.seipd_v2(
-            &mut rng,
-            SYMMETRIC_KEY_ALGORITHM,
-            AeadAlgorithm::Ocb,
-            ChunkSize::C8KiB,
-        );
-        msg.encrypt_with_password(&mut rng, s2k, &shared_secret)?;
+    let msg = MessageBuilder::from_bytes("", plain);
+    let mut rng = thread_rng();
+    let mut salt = [0u8; 8];
+    rng.fill(&mut salt[..]);
+    let s2k = StringToKey::Salted {
+        hash_alg: HashAlgorithm::default(),
+        salt,
+    };
+    let mut msg = msg.seipd_v2(
+        &mut rng,
+        SYMMETRIC_KEY_ALGORITHM,
+        AeadAlgorithm::Ocb,
+        ChunkSize::C8KiB,
+    );
+    msg.encrypt_with_password(&mut rng, s2k, &shared_secret)?;
 
-        if let Some(private_key_for_signing) = private_key_for_signing.as_deref() {
-            let hash_algorithm = private_key_for_signing.hash_alg();
-            msg.sign(private_key_for_signing, Password::empty(), hash_algorithm);
-        }
-        if compress {
-            msg.compression(CompressionAlgorithm::ZLIB);
-        }
+    if let Some(private_key_for_signing) = private_key_for_signing.as_deref() {
+        let hash_algorithm = private_key_for_signing.hash_alg();
+        msg.sign(private_key_for_signing, Password::empty(), hash_algorithm);
+    }
+    if compress {
+        msg.compression(CompressionAlgorithm::ZLIB);
+    }
 
-        let encoded_msg = msg.to_armored_string(&mut rng, Default::default())?;
+    let encoded_msg = msg.to_armored_string(&mut rng, Default::default())?;
 
-        Ok(encoded_msg)
-    })
-    .await?
+    Ok(encoded_msg)
 }
 
 /// Merges and minimizes OpenPGP certificates.