diff --git a/spring-cloud-function-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/catalog/BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistry.java b/spring-cloud-function-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/catalog/BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistry.java
index ad555fd57..200c804a1 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-function-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/catalog/BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistry.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-function-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/catalog/BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistry.java
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
 import org.springframework.messaging.Message;
 import org.springframework.messaging.MessageHeaders;
 import org.springframework.messaging.converter.CompositeMessageConverter;
+import org.springframework.messaging.support.GenericMessage;
 import org.springframework.messaging.support.MessageBuilder;
 import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 import org.springframework.util.CollectionUtils;
@@ -668,7 +669,14 @@ public class BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistry
 					}
 				}
 				else if (rawType instanceof Class<?>) { // see AWS adapter with WildardTypeImpl and Azure with Voids
-					convertedValue = conversionService.convert(value, (Class<?>) rawType);
+					try {
+						convertedValue = conversionService.convert(value, (Class<?>) rawType);
+					}
+					catch (Exception e) {
+						if (value instanceof String || value instanceof byte[]) {
+							convertedValue = messageConverter.fromMessage(new GenericMessage<Object>(value), (Class<?>) rawType);
+						}
+					}
 				}
 			}
 			if (logger.isDebugEnabled()) {
diff --git a/spring-cloud-function-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/catalog/BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistryTests.java b/spring-cloud-function-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/catalog/BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistryTests.java
index 55a064f9e..fbe668b8e 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-function-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/catalog/BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistryTests.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-function-context/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/catalog/BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistryTests.java
@@ -282,6 +282,16 @@ public class BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistryTests {
 		assertThat((Object) catalog.lookup("")).isNull();
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void pojoFunctionAsJson() {
+		FunctionCatalog catalog = this.configureCatalog();
+		Function<String, Person> uppercasePerson = catalog.lookup("uppercasePerson");
+
+		Person person = uppercasePerson.apply("{\"name\":\"bill\",\"id\":2}");
+		assertThat(person.getName()).isEqualTo("BILL");
+
+	}
+
 
 	@EnableAutoConfiguration
 	@Configuration