diff --git a/src/column.js b/src/column.js
index 83a8535..b909a88 100644
--- a/src/column.js
+++ b/src/column.js
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ export function readColumn(arrayBuffer, rowGroup, columnMetadata, schema) {
   // parse column data
   let valuesSeen = 0
   let byteOffset = 0 // byteOffset within the column
+  /** @type {ArrayLike<any> | undefined} */
   let dictionary = undefined
   const rowIndex = [0] // map/list object index
   const rowData = []
@@ -65,18 +66,23 @@ export function readColumn(arrayBuffer, rowGroup, columnMetadata, schema) {
       const { definitionLevels, repetitionLevels, value: dataPage } = readDataPage(page, daph, schema, columnMetadata)
       valuesSeen += daph.num_values
 
+      const dictionaryEncoding = daph.encoding === Encoding.PLAIN_DICTIONARY || daph.encoding === Encoding.RLE_DICTIONARY
+
       // construct output values: skip nulls and construct lists
       let values
       if (repetitionLevels.length) {
         // Use repetition levels to construct lists
-        if ([Encoding.PLAIN_DICTIONARY, Encoding.RLE_DICTIONARY].includes(daph.encoding)) {
-          // TODO: dereference dictionary values
+        if (dictionaryEncoding && dictionary !== undefined && Array.isArray(dataPage)) {
+          // dereference dictionary values
+          for (let i = 0; i < dataPage.length; i++) {
+            dataPage[i] = dictionary[dataPage[i]]
+          }
         }
         const isNull = columnMetadata && !isRequired(schema, [columnMetadata.path_in_schema[0]])
         const nullValue = false // TODO: unused?
         const maxDefinitionLevel = getMaxDefinitionLevel(schema, columnMetadata.path_in_schema)
         values = assembleObjects(definitionLevels, repetitionLevels, dataPage, isNull, nullValue, maxDefinitionLevel, rowIndex[0])
-      } else if (definitionLevels) {
+      } else if (definitionLevels?.length) {
         const maxDefinitionLevel = getMaxDefinitionLevel(schema, columnMetadata.path_in_schema)
         // Use definition levels to skip nulls
         let index = 0
@@ -105,7 +111,12 @@ export function readColumn(arrayBuffer, rowGroup, columnMetadata, schema) {
           }
         }
       } else {
-        // TODO: use dictionary
+        if (dictionaryEncoding && dictionary !== undefined && Array.isArray(dataPage)) {
+          // dereference dictionary values
+          for (let i = 0; i < dataPage.length; i++) {
+            dataPage[i] = dictionary[dataPage[i]]
+          }
+        }
         values = dataPage
       }
 
diff --git a/src/datapage.js b/src/datapage.js
index eb1c91b..9867b34 100644
--- a/src/datapage.js
+++ b/src/datapage.js
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ const skipNulls = false // TODO
  * @param {DataPageHeader} daph data page header
  * @param {SchemaElement[]} schema schema for the file
  * @param {ColumnMetaData} columnMetadata metadata for the column
- * @returns {DataPage} array of values
+ * @returns {DataPage} definition levels, repetition levels, and array of values
  */
 export function readDataPage(bytes, daph, schema, columnMetadata) {
   const dataView = new DataView(bytes.buffer, bytes.byteOffset, bytes.byteLength)
@@ -142,8 +142,16 @@ function readDefinitionLevels(dataView, offset, daph, schema, columnMetadata) {
       const { value: definitionLevels, byteLength } = readData(
         dataView, daph.definition_level_encoding, offset, daph.num_values, bitWidth
       )
-      const numNulls = daph.num_values - definitionLevels
-        .filter((/** @type number */ d) => d === maxDefinitionLevel).length
+
+      // count nulls
+      let numNulls = daph.num_values
+      for (const def of definitionLevels) {
+        if (def === maxDefinitionLevel) numNulls--
+      }
+      if (numNulls === 0) {
+        definitionLevels.length = 0
+      }
+
       return { byteLength, definitionLevels, numNulls }
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/encoding.js b/src/encoding.js
index 93aae97..948a96a 100644
--- a/src/encoding.js
+++ b/src/encoding.js
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ export function readData(dataView, encoding, offset, count, bitWidth) {
   if (encoding === ParquetEncoding.RLE) {
     let seen = 0
     while (seen < count) {
-      const { value: rleValues, byteLength: rleByteLength } = readRleBitPackedHybrid(dataView, offset + byteLength, bitWidth, 0, count)
+      const { value: rleValues, byteLength: rleByteLength } = readRleBitPackedHybrid(dataView, offset + byteLength, bitWidth, 0, 1)
       if (!rleValues.length) break // EOF
       value.push(...rleValues)
       seen += rleValues.length
@@ -220,13 +220,13 @@ export function readData(dataView, encoding, offset, count, bitWidth) {
 
 /**
  * Read values from a run-length encoded/bit-packed hybrid encoding.
- * If length is not specified, then a 32-bit int is read first to grab the
- * length of the encoded data.
+ *
+ * If length is zero, then read as int32 at the start of the encoded data.
  *
  * @param {DataView} dataView - buffer to read data from
  * @param {number} offset - offset to start reading from the DataView
  * @param {number} width - width of each bit-packed group
- * @param {number | undefined} length - length of the encoded data
+ * @param {number} length - length of the encoded data
  * @param {number} numValues - number of values to read
  * @returns {Decoded<number[]>} array of rle/bit-packed values
  */
diff --git a/src/read.js b/src/read.js
index d4648ec..47780ff 100644
--- a/src/read.js
+++ b/src/read.js
@@ -113,11 +113,13 @@ async function readRowGroup(options, rowGroup) {
     const columnStartByte = getColumnOffset(columnMetadata)
     const columnEndByte = columnStartByte + Number(columnMetadata.total_compressed_size)
     const columnBytes = columnEndByte - columnStartByte
+
     // skip columns larger than 1gb
     if (columnBytes > 1 << 30) {
       console.warn(`parquet skipping huge column "${columnMetadata.path_in_schema}" ${columnBytes.toLocaleString()} bytes`)
       continue
     }
+
     // use pre-loaded row group byte data if available, else read column data
     let buffer
     if (!groupBuffer) {
@@ -127,6 +129,7 @@ async function readRowGroup(options, rowGroup) {
     } else {
       buffer = Promise.resolve(groupBuffer)
     }
+
     // read column data async
     promises.push(buffer.then(arrayBuffer => {
       // TODO: extract SchemaElement for this column
diff --git a/test/encoding.test.js b/test/encoding.test.js
index c2c0d29..b89d14b 100644
--- a/test/encoding.test.js
+++ b/test/encoding.test.js
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ describe('readRleBitPackedHybrid', () => {
     dataView.setUint8(6, 0b00000011) // Bit-packed header for 3 values
     dataView.setUint8(7, 0b00000100) // Bit-packed values (false, false, true)
 
-    const { byteLength, value } = readRleBitPackedHybrid(dataView, 0, 1, undefined, 6)
+    const { byteLength, value } = readRleBitPackedHybrid(dataView, 0, 1, 0, 6)
     expect(byteLength).toBe(8)
     expect(value).toEqual([1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1])
   })