diff --git a/spring-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/amqp/rabbit/core/RabbitTemplate.java b/spring-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/amqp/rabbit/core/RabbitTemplate.java
index aecd106b..0e982875 100644
--- a/spring-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/amqp/rabbit/core/RabbitTemplate.java
+++ b/spring-rabbit/src/main/java/org/springframework/amqp/rabbit/core/RabbitTemplate.java
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ public class RabbitTemplate extends RabbitAccessor implements RabbitOperations,
 	}
 
 	public void convertAndSend(String exchange, String routingKey, final Object object, CorrelationData corrationData) throws AmqpException {
-		send(exchange, routingKey, getRequiredMessageConverter().toMessage(object, new MessageProperties()), corrationData);
+		send(exchange, routingKey, convertMessageIfNecessary(object), corrationData);
 	}
 
 	public void convertAndSend(Object message, MessagePostProcessor messagePostProcessor) throws AmqpException {
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ public class RabbitTemplate extends RabbitAccessor implements RabbitOperations,
 
 	public void convertAndSend(String exchange, String routingKey, final Object message,
 			final MessagePostProcessor messagePostProcessor, CorrelationData correlationData) throws AmqpException {
-		Message messageToSend = getRequiredMessageConverter().toMessage(message, new MessageProperties());
+		Message messageToSend = convertMessageIfNecessary(message);
 		messageToSend = messagePostProcessor.postProcessMessage(messageToSend);
 		send(exchange, routingKey, messageToSend, correlationData);
 	}
@@ -464,8 +464,7 @@ public class RabbitTemplate extends RabbitAccessor implements RabbitOperations,
 
 	public Object convertSendAndReceive(final String exchange, final String routingKey, final Object message,
 			final MessagePostProcessor messagePostProcessor) throws AmqpException {
-		MessageProperties messageProperties = new MessageProperties();
-		Message requestMessage = getRequiredMessageConverter().toMessage(message, messageProperties);
+		Message requestMessage = convertMessageIfNecessary(message);
 		if (messagePostProcessor != null) {
 			requestMessage = messagePostProcessor.postProcessMessage(requestMessage);
 		}
@@ -476,6 +475,13 @@ public class RabbitTemplate extends RabbitAccessor implements RabbitOperations,
 		return this.getRequiredMessageConverter().fromMessage(replyMessage);
 	}
 
+	protected Message convertMessageIfNecessary(final Object object) {
+		if (object instanceof Message) {
+			return (Message) object;
+		}
+		return getRequiredMessageConverter().toMessage(object, new MessageProperties());
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Send a message and wait for a reply.
 	 * 
diff --git a/spring-rabbit/src/test/java/org/springframework/amqp/rabbit/core/RabbitTemplateTests.java b/spring-rabbit/src/test/java/org/springframework/amqp/rabbit/core/RabbitTemplateTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aeb8d1ec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-rabbit/src/test/java/org/springframework/amqp/rabbit/core/RabbitTemplateTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2012 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.amqp.rabbit.core;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertSame;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.springframework.amqp.core.Message;
+import org.springframework.amqp.core.MessageProperties;
+import org.springframework.amqp.support.converter.SimpleMessageConverter;
+import org.springframework.amqp.utils.SerializationUtils;
+
+/**
+ * @author Gary Russell
+ * @since 1.0.1
+ *
+ */
+public class RabbitTemplateTests {
+
+	@Test
+	public void testConvertbytes() {
+		RabbitTemplate template = new RabbitTemplate();
+		byte[] payload = "Hello, world!".getBytes();
+		Message message = template.convertMessageIfNecessary(payload);
+		assertSame(payload, message.getBody());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testConvertString() throws Exception {
+		RabbitTemplate template = new RabbitTemplate();
+		String payload = "Hello, world!";
+		Message message = template.convertMessageIfNecessary(payload);
+		assertEquals(payload, new String(message.getBody(), SimpleMessageConverter.DEFAULT_CHARSET));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testConvertSerializable() throws Exception {
+		RabbitTemplate template = new RabbitTemplate();
+		Long payload = 43L;
+		Message message = template.convertMessageIfNecessary(payload);
+		assertEquals(payload, SerializationUtils.deserialize(message.getBody()));
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testConvertMessage() throws Exception {
+		RabbitTemplate template = new RabbitTemplate();
+		Message input = new Message("Hello, world!".getBytes(), new MessageProperties());
+		Message message = template.convertMessageIfNecessary(input);
+		assertSame(input, message);
+	}
+
+}