diff --git a/libcob/ChangeLog b/libcob/ChangeLog
index 2416a161..2fb01f1d 100644
--- a/libcob/ChangeLog
+++ b/libcob/ChangeLog
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@
 	* fileio.c (apply_file_paths): extracted from cob_chk_file_mapping
 	  to factor out duplicated code
 
-2023-06-02  Simon Sobisch <simonsobisch@gnu.org>
+2024-06-02  Simon Sobisch <simonsobisch@gnu.org>
 
 	* fisam.c (isam_read_next): use ISSTAT only for COB_WITH_STATUS_02,
 	  fixing compile errors with VBISAM
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@
 	* common.h [__MINGW32__]: drop ancient redefinition of
 	  strcasecmp and strncasecmp
 
+2023-04-27  Simon Sobisch <simonsobisch@gnu.org>
+
+	* move.c (cob_move_display_to_packed), numeric.c (cob_decimal_get_packed):
+	  simplify code, following idea by of Chuck Haatveet
+
 2023-04-26  Simon Sobisch <simonsobisch@gnu.org>
 
 	* general: only include coblocal.h which includes common.h already
diff --git a/libcob/move.c b/libcob/move.c
index 22b316d1..6c77fe4c 100644
--- a/libcob/move.c
+++ b/libcob/move.c
@@ -475,13 +475,20 @@ cob_move_display_to_packed (cob_field *f1, cob_field *f2)
 	{
 		register unsigned char	*q = f2->data + i / 2;
 		const unsigned int i_end = digits2 + i;
-		const unsigned char *p_end = data1 + digits1;	/* FIXME: get rid of that, adjust i_end accordingly */
-		for (; i < i_end && p < p_end; ++i) {
-			if ((i & 1) == 0) {	/* -> i % 2 == 0 */
-				*q = (unsigned char)(*p++ << 4);	/* -> dropping the higher bits = no use in COB_D2I */
-			} else {
-				*q++ += COB_D2I (*p++);
-			}
+		/* FIXME: get rid of that, adjust i_end accordingly and always end at sign byte */
+		const unsigned char *p_end = data1 + digits1;
+
+		if ((i % 2) == 1) {
+			*q++ = COB_D2I (*p++);
+			i++;
+		}
+		/* note: for performance reasons we write "full bytes" only, this means that for COMP-3
+		   we'll read 1 byte "too much = after" from the DISPLAY data;
+		   it is believed that this won't raise a SIGBUS anywhere, but we will need to "clean"
+		   the half-byte before setting the sign */
+		for (; i < i_end && p < p_end; ++i, q++, p += 2) {
+			*q = (unsigned char) (*p << 4)	/* -> dropping the higher bits = no use in COB_D2I */
+			    + COB_D2I (*(p + 1));
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -490,27 +497,14 @@ cob_move_display_to_packed (cob_field *f1, cob_field *f2)
 		return;
 	}
 
-	p = f2->data + f2->size - 1;
-#if 0	/* FIXME: this should work, but in some cases (seen in ACOS test)
-	   we do have written one half-byte too much, which we need to drop. */
-	/* add half-byte for sign,
-	   note: we can directly use |= as it was zeroed out above */
+	p = f2->data + f2->size - 1;	/* TODO: ending at the sign byte means we can drop that */
 	if (!COB_FIELD_HAVE_SIGN (f2)) {
 		*p |= 0x0F;
-	} else if (sign == -1) {
-		*p |= 0x0D;
-	} else {
-		*p |= 0x0C;
-	}
-#else
-	if (!COB_FIELD_HAVE_SIGN (f2)) {
-		*p = (*p & 0xF0) | 0x0F;
 	} else if (sign == -1) {
 		*p = (*p & 0xF0) | 0x0D;
 	} else {
 		*p = (*p & 0xF0) | 0x0C;
 	}
-#endif
 }
 
 static void
@@ -743,7 +737,7 @@ cob_move_binary_to_display (cob_field *f1, cob_field *f2)
 	cob_u64_t	val;
 	int			i;
 	int			sign;
-	char		buff[32];
+	unsigned char	buff[32];
 
 	sign = 1;
 	if (f2->size > 18
diff --git a/libcob/numeric.c b/libcob/numeric.c
index a2821bf8..e7b3693f 100644
--- a/libcob/numeric.c
+++ b/libcob/numeric.c
@@ -1218,7 +1218,7 @@ cob_decimal_get_packed (cob_decimal *d, cob_field *f, const int opt)
 	memset (data, 0, f->size);
 
 	/* calculate starting half-byte */
-	size = (unsigned int)strlen (buff);
+	size = (unsigned int) strlen (buff);
 	diff = (unsigned int) digits - size;
 
 	if (COB_FIELD_NO_SIGN_NIBBLE (f)) {
@@ -1233,12 +1233,15 @@ cob_decimal_get_packed (cob_decimal *d, cob_field *f, const int opt)
 	{
 		register unsigned char *q = (unsigned char *)buff;
 		register unsigned int	i = diff;
+
+		if ((i % 2) == 1) {
+			*p++ += COB_D2I (*q++);
+			i++;
+		}
 		while (i < size) {
-			if ((i++ & 1) == 0) {	/* -> i % 2 == 0 */
-				*p = (unsigned char) (*q++ << 4);	/* -> dropping the higher bits = no use in COB_D2I */
-			} else {
-				*p++ += COB_D2I (*q++);
-			}
+			*p++ = (unsigned char) (*q << 4)	/* -> dropping the higher bits = no use in COB_D2I */
+			   + COB_D2I (*(q + 1));
+			q += 2; i += 2;
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -1247,7 +1250,8 @@ cob_decimal_get_packed (cob_decimal *d, cob_field *f, const int opt)
 	}
 
 	/* add half-byte for sign,
-	   note: we can directly use |= as it was zeroed out above */
+	   note: we can directly use |= as we set the last half-bte to the trailing low-value
+	   we got from mpz_get_str above */
 	p = data + f->size - 1;
 	if (!COB_FIELD_HAVE_SIGN (f)) {
 		*p |= 0x0FU;