diff --git a/src/py.rs b/src/py.rs
index 60b62452..59afabb3 100644
--- a/src/py.rs
+++ b/src/py.rs
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ impl CoreBPE {
             Err(e) => return Err(PyErr::new::<exceptions::PyValueError, _>(e.message)),
         };
 
-        let buffer = TiktokenBuffer { tokens };
+        let buffer = TiktokenBuffer::new(tokens);
         buffer.into_py_any(py)
     }
 
@@ -186,6 +186,17 @@ impl CoreBPE {
 #[pyclass(frozen)]
 struct TiktokenBuffer {
     tokens: Vec<Rank>,
+    // Per the buffer protocol, `view.shape[0]` must be the element count
+    // (so that `prod(shape) * itemsize == len`). Box it so the pointer we
+    // hand out in `__getbuffer__` is stable for the lifetime of `self`.
+    shape: Box<pyo3::ffi::Py_ssize_t>,
+}
+
+impl TiktokenBuffer {
+    fn new(tokens: Vec<Rank>) -> Self {
+        let shape = Box::new(tokens.len() as pyo3::ffi::Py_ssize_t);
+        Self { tokens, shape }
+    }
 }
 
 #[pymethods]
@@ -208,7 +219,8 @@ impl TiktokenBuffer {
             let view_ref = &mut *view;
             view_ref.obj = slf.clone().into_any().into_ptr();
 
-            let data = &slf.borrow().tokens;
+            let borrowed = slf.borrow();
+            let data = &borrowed.tokens;
             view_ref.buf = data.as_ptr() as *mut std::os::raw::c_void;
             view_ref.len = (data.len() * std::mem::size_of::<Rank>()) as isize;
             view_ref.readonly = 1;
@@ -221,7 +233,10 @@ impl TiktokenBuffer {
             };
             view_ref.ndim = 1;
             view_ref.shape = if (flags & pyo3::ffi::PyBUF_ND) == pyo3::ffi::PyBUF_ND {
-                &mut view_ref.len
+                // Element count, not byte length, per PEP 3118.
+                // The Box lives as long as `self` (kept alive via `view_ref.obj`),
+                // so this pointer is valid for the buffer view's lifetime.
+                &*borrowed.shape as *const pyo3::ffi::Py_ssize_t as *mut pyo3::ffi::Py_ssize_t
             } else {
                 std::ptr::null_mut()
             };
diff --git a/tests/test_misc.py b/tests/test_misc.py
index 0832c8ee..45746d2d 100644
--- a/tests/test_misc.py
+++ b/tests/test_misc.py
@@ -28,3 +28,19 @@ def test_optional_blobfile_dependency():
 assert "blobfile" not in sys.modules
 """
     subprocess.check_call([sys.executable, "-c", prog])
+
+
+def test_tiktoken_buffer_shape_is_element_count():
+    # Regression test for the buffer protocol's `shape` reporting bytes
+    # instead of element count, which caused `memoryview(...).tolist()`
+    # to expand each token into 4 byte-sized integers. See issue #405.
+    import math
+
+    enc = tiktoken.get_encoding("gpt2")
+    expected = enc.encode("hello world")
+    buf = enc._core_bpe.encode_to_tiktoken_buffer("hello world", frozenset())
+
+    mv = memoryview(buf)
+    # Per PEP 3118: prod(shape) * itemsize == nbytes
+    assert math.prod(mv.shape) * mv.itemsize == mv.nbytes
+    assert mv.tolist() == expected