diff --git a/pottery/counter.py b/pottery/counter.py
index 27ffae79..3ce8e4d2 100644
--- a/pottery/counter.py
+++ b/pottery/counter.py
@@ -75,10 +75,7 @@ def _populate(self,  # type: ignore
             dict_[key] = original + sign * value
 
         dict_ = {key: self[key] + value for key, value in dict_.items()}
-        encoded_dict = {
-            self._encode(key): self._encode(value)
-            for key, value in dict_.items()
-        }
+        encoded_dict = self._encode_dict(dict_)
         if encoded_dict:
             pipeline.multi()
             pipeline.hset(self.key, mapping=encoded_dict)  # type: ignore
diff --git a/pottery/dict.py b/pottery/dict.py
index 3e7023bc..65b89dfa 100644
--- a/pottery/dict.py
+++ b/pottery/dict.py
@@ -73,10 +73,7 @@ def _populate(self,
             arg = cast(InitMap, arg).items()
         items = itertools.chain(cast(InitIter, arg), kwargs.items())
         dict_ = dict(items)
-        encoded_dict = {
-            self._encode(key): self._encode(value)
-            for key, value in dict_.items()
-        }
+        encoded_dict = self.__encode_dict(dict_)
         if encoded_dict:
             pipeline.multi()
             pipeline.hset(self.key, mapping=encoded_dict)  # type: ignore
@@ -86,6 +83,15 @@ def _populate(self,
     #   https://stackoverflow.com/a/38534939
     __populate = _populate
 
+    def _encode_dict(self, dict_):
+        encoded_dict = {
+            self._encode(key): self._encode(value)
+            for key, value in dict_.items()
+        }
+        return encoded_dict
+
+    __encode_dict = _encode_dict
+
     # Methods required by collections.abc.MutableMapping:
 
     def __getitem__(self, key: JSONTypes) -> JSONTypes: