diff --git a/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/messaging/kafka/ContractVerifierKafkaConfiguration.java b/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/messaging/kafka/ContractVerifierKafkaConfiguration.java
index 959533fd80..ed9fab3055 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/messaging/kafka/ContractVerifierKafkaConfiguration.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/messaging/kafka/ContractVerifierKafkaConfiguration.java
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
 
 package org.springframework.cloud.contract.verifier.messaging.kafka;
 
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+
 import org.apache.commons.logging.Log;
 import org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory;
 
@@ -35,6 +39,7 @@ import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration;
 import org.springframework.kafka.core.KafkaTemplate;
 import org.springframework.kafka.test.EmbeddedKafkaBroker;
 import org.springframework.messaging.Message;
+import org.springframework.messaging.MessageHeaders;
 
 /**
  * @author Marcin Grzejszczak
@@ -80,7 +85,19 @@ class ContractVerifierKafkaHelper extends ContractVerifierMessaging<Message<?>>
 
 	@Override
 	protected ContractVerifierMessage convert(Message<?> message) {
-		return new ContractVerifierMessage(message.getPayload(), message.getHeaders());
+		return new ContractVerifierMessage(message.getPayload(), convertHeaders(message.getHeaders()));
+	}
+
+	private MessageHeaders convertHeaders(Map<String, Object> headers) {
+		return new MessageHeaders(headers.entrySet().stream()
+				.collect(Collectors.toMap(Map.Entry::getKey, e -> maybeConvertValue(e.getValue()))));
+	}
+
+	private Object maybeConvertValue(Object value) {
+		if (!(value instanceof byte[])) {
+			return value;
+		}
+		return new String((byte[]) value, StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
 	}
 
 }
diff --git a/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/test/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/messaging/kafka/ContractVerifierKafkaHelperSpec.groovy b/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/test/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/messaging/kafka/ContractVerifierKafkaHelperSpec.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..550f2fa51f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-cloud-contract-verifier/src/test/groovy/org/springframework/cloud/contract/verifier/messaging/kafka/ContractVerifierKafkaHelperSpec.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2013-2020 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
+ *
+ *      https://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.cloud.contract.verifier.messaging.kafka
+
+import spock.lang.Specification
+
+import org.springframework.cloud.contract.verifier.messaging.MessageVerifier
+import org.springframework.cloud.contract.verifier.messaging.internal.ContractVerifierMessage
+import org.springframework.cloud.contract.verifier.messaging.kafka.ContractVerifierKafkaHelper
+import org.springframework.messaging.Message
+import org.springframework.messaging.support.MessageBuilder
+
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link ContractVerifierKafkaHelper}.
+ *
+ * @author Chris Bono
+ */
+class ContractVerifierKafkaHelperSpec extends Specification {
+
+	def "should convert message with no headers"() {
+		given:
+			Message message = MessageBuilder
+					.withPayload("some-data")
+					.build()
+			ContractVerifierKafkaHelper contractVerifierKafkaHelper = new ContractVerifierKafkaHelper(mock(MessageVerifier.class))
+		when:
+			ContractVerifierMessage contractVerifierMessage = contractVerifierKafkaHelper.convert(message)
+		then:
+			contractVerifierMessage.payload == "some-data"
+	}
+
+	def "should convert message with basic header"() {
+		given:
+			Message message = MessageBuilder
+					.withPayload("some-data")
+					.setHeader("some-header", "5150")
+					.build()
+			ContractVerifierKafkaHelper contractVerifierKafkaHelper = new ContractVerifierKafkaHelper(mock(MessageVerifier.class))
+		when:
+			ContractVerifierMessage contractVerifierMessage = contractVerifierKafkaHelper.convert(message)
+		then:
+			contractVerifierMessage.payload == "some-data"
+			contractVerifierMessage.headers.containsKey("some-header")
+			contractVerifierMessage.headers.get("some-header") == "5150"
+	}
+
+	def "should convert message with byte[] header"() {
+		given:
+			Message message = MessageBuilder
+					.withPayload("some-data")
+					.setHeader("some-header", "5150".getBytes())
+					.build()
+			ContractVerifierKafkaHelper contractVerifierKafkaHelper = new ContractVerifierKafkaHelper(mock(MessageVerifier.class))
+		when:
+			ContractVerifierMessage contractVerifierMessage = contractVerifierKafkaHelper.convert(message)
+		then:
+			contractVerifierMessage.payload == "some-data"
+			contractVerifierMessage.headers.containsKey("some-header")
+			new String(contractVerifierMessage.headers.get("some-header")) == "5150"
+	}
+}