The docs don't make this explicitly clear, but if you omit `$strict` or set it to `false` then invalid characters in the encoded input will be silently ignored.
<?php
echo base64_decode('VGhpcyBpcyBhbiBlbmNvZGVkIHN0cmluZw=='); // "This is an encoded string"
echo base64_decode('$VGhpcyBpcyBhbiBlbmNvZGVkIHN0cmluZw=='); // "This is an encoded string"
echo base64_decode('$VGhpcyBpcyBhbiBlbmNvZGVkIHN0cmluZw==', true); // false
?>