diff --git a/color.c b/color.c
index 00b53f97ac..9015d0faf1 100644
--- a/color.c
+++ b/color.c
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ static int get_hex_color(const char **inp, int width, unsigned char *out)
 	unsigned int val;
 
 	assert(width == 1 || width == 2);
-	val = (hexval(in[0]) << 4) | hexval(in[width - 1]);
+	val = (hexval(in[0], HEX_KIND_MIXED) << 4) | hexval(in[width - 1], HEX_KIND_MIXED);
 	if (val & ~0xff)
 		return -1;
 	*inp += width;
diff --git a/hex-ll.c b/hex-ll.c
index 4d7ece1de5..fa85e91827 100644
--- a/hex-ll.c
+++ b/hex-ll.c
@@ -36,10 +36,45 @@ const signed char hexval_table[256] = {
 	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* f8-ff */
 };
 
+const signed char hexval_lc_table[256] = {
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 00-07 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 08-0f */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 10-17 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 18-1f */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 20-27 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 28-2f */
+	  0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,		/* 30-37 */
+	  8,  9, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 38-3f */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 40-47 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 48-4f */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 50-57 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 58-5f */
+	 -1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, -1,		/* 60-67 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 68-67 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 70-77 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 78-7f */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 80-87 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 88-8f */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 90-97 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* 98-9f */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* a0-a7 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* a8-af */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* b0-b7 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* b8-bf */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* c0-c7 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* c8-cf */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* d0-d7 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* d8-df */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* e0-e7 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* e8-ef */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* f0-f7 */
+	 -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1, -1,		/* f8-ff */
+};
+
 int hex_to_bytes(unsigned char *binary, const char *hex, size_t len)
 {
 	for (; len; len--, hex += 2) {
-		unsigned int val = (hexval(hex[0]) << 4) | hexval(hex[1]);
+		unsigned int val = (hexval(hex[0], HEX_KIND_MIXED) << 4) | hexval(hex[1], HEX_KIND_MIXED);
 
 		if (val & ~0xff)
 			return -1;
diff --git a/hex-ll.h b/hex-ll.h
index a381fa8556..da1b5239b2 100644
--- a/hex-ll.h
+++ b/hex-ll.h
@@ -1,10 +1,16 @@
 #ifndef HEX_LL_H
 #define HEX_LL_H
 
+enum hexkind {
+	HEX_KIND_MIXED = 0,
+	HEX_KIND_LOWER = 1,
+};
+
 extern const signed char hexval_table[256];
-static inline unsigned int hexval(unsigned char c)
+extern const signed char hexval_lc_table[256];
+static inline unsigned int hexval(unsigned char c, enum hexkind kind)
 {
-	return hexval_table[c];
+	return kind == HEX_KIND_MIXED ? hexval_table[c] : hexval_lc_table[c];
 }
 
 /*
@@ -13,8 +19,8 @@ static inline unsigned int hexval(unsigned char c)
  */
 static inline int hex2chr(const char *s)
 {
-	unsigned int val = hexval(s[0]);
-	return (val & ~0xf) ? val : (val << 4) | hexval(s[1]);
+	unsigned int val = hexval(s[0], HEX_KIND_MIXED);
+	return (val & ~0xf) ? val : (val << 4) | hexval(s[1], HEX_KIND_MIXED);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/pkt-line.c b/pkt-line.c
index 3fc3e9ea70..338075558c 100644
--- a/pkt-line.c
+++ b/pkt-line.c
@@ -378,10 +378,10 @@ int packet_length(const char lenbuf_hex[4], size_t size)
 {
 	if (size < 4)
 		BUG("buffer too small");
-	return	hexval(lenbuf_hex[0]) << 12 |
-		hexval(lenbuf_hex[1]) <<  8 |
-		hexval(lenbuf_hex[2]) <<  4 |
-		hexval(lenbuf_hex[3]);
+	return	hexval(lenbuf_hex[0], HEX_KIND_MIXED) << 12 |
+		hexval(lenbuf_hex[1], HEX_KIND_MIXED) <<  8 |
+		hexval(lenbuf_hex[2], HEX_KIND_MIXED) <<  4 |
+		hexval(lenbuf_hex[3], HEX_KIND_MIXED);
 }
 
 static const char *find_packfile_uri_path(const char *buffer)