Huffman string decoder in clojure

huffman.clj

(defn- decode-huffman [nodes buffer]
  (string/join (loop [byte-pos 0 bits (first buffer)
                      node (last nodes)
                      bits-remaining 8 output []]
                 (if (= 0 bits-remaining)
                   (recur (inc byte-pos) (nth buffer (inc byte-pos)) node 8 output)

                   (let [next-node (if (bit-test bits 7) :right :left)]
                     (if (= 255 (:right node))
                       (if (not= (:value node) "|")
                         (recur byte-pos bits
                                (last nodes) bits-remaining
                                (conj output (:value node)))
                         output)

                       (recur byte-pos                      ; current byte pos
                              (bit-and 255 (bit-shift-left bits 1))
                              (nth nodes (next-node node))  ; next node in huffman tree
                              (dec bits-remaining)
                              output)))))))