diff --git a/CHANGELOG.txt b/CHANGELOG.txt
index c433e29..51654e8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.txt
+++ b/CHANGELOG.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 xmlseclibs.php
 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
+20, Nov 2024, 3.1.3
+Bug Fixes:
+- remove loadKey check due to BC issues
+
 20, Nov 2024, 3.1.2
 Improvements:
 - Add tab to list of whitespace values to remove from cert. refs #252
diff --git a/src/XMLSecurityKey.php b/src/XMLSecurityKey.php
index 92bc6ba..2fd2a38 100644
--- a/src/XMLSecurityKey.php
+++ b/src/XMLSecurityKey.php
@@ -384,9 +384,6 @@ public function loadKey($key, $isFile=false, $isCert = false)
 
 	            case 'private':
                     $this->key = openssl_get_privatekey($this->key, $this->passphrase);
-                    if ($this->key === false) {
-                        throw new Exception('Unable to extract private key (invalid key or passphrase): ' . openssl_error_string());
-                    }
                     break;
 
                 case'symmetric':
diff --git a/xmlseclibs.php b/xmlseclibs.php
index 21ab54e..05b7a1f 100644
--- a/xmlseclibs.php
+++ b/xmlseclibs.php
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
  * @author    Robert Richards <rrichards@cdatazone.org>
  * @copyright 2007-2024 Robert Richards <rrichards@cdatazone.org>
  * @license   http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php  BSD License
- * @version   3.1.2
+ * @version   3.1.3
  */
 
 $xmlseclibs_srcdir = dirname(__FILE__) . '/src/';