diff --git a/spring-cloud-function-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/FunctionProperties.java b/spring-cloud-function-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/FunctionProperties.java
index 3379a6aaa..897e319c2 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-function-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/FunctionProperties.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-function-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/cloud/function/context/FunctionProperties.java
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ public class FunctionProperties {
 	 */
 	public final static String PREFIX = "spring.cloud.function";
 
+	/**
+	 * Name of he header to be used to instruct function catalog to skip type conversion.
+	 */
+	public final static String SKIP_CONVERSION_HEADER = "skip-type-conversion";
+
 	/**
 	 * Definition of the function to be used. This could be function name (e.g., 'myFunction')
 	 * or function composition definition (e.g., 'myFunction|yourFunction')
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 9c7e63860..bcab01f96 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
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Qualifier;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.cloud.function.context.FunctionCatalog;
+import org.springframework.cloud.function.context.FunctionProperties;
 import org.springframework.cloud.function.context.FunctionRegistration;
 import org.springframework.cloud.function.context.FunctionRegistry;
 import org.springframework.cloud.function.context.FunctionType;
@@ -156,8 +157,8 @@ public class BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistry
 	@Override
 	public FunctionRegistration<?> getRegistration(Object function) {
 		FunctionRegistration<?> registration = this.registrationsByFunction.get(function);
-		// need to do this due to the deployer not wrapping the actual target into FunctionInvocationWrapper
-		// hence the lookup would need to be made by the actual target
+//		// need to do this due to the deployer not wrapping the actual target into FunctionInvocationWrapper
+//		// hence the lookup would need to be made by the actual target
 		if (registration == null && function instanceof FunctionInvocationWrapper) {
 			function = ((FunctionInvocationWrapper) function).target;
 		}
@@ -165,13 +166,10 @@ public class BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistry
 	}
 
 	private Object locateFunction(String name) {
-		Object function = null;
-		if (this.applicationContext.containsBean(name)) {
+		Object function = this.registrationsByName.get(name);
+		if (function == null && this.applicationContext.containsBean(name)) {
 			function = this.applicationContext.getBean(name);
 		}
-		if (function == null) {
-			function = this.registrationsByName.get(name);
-		}
 
 		if (function != null && this.notFunction(function.getClass())
 				&& this.applicationContext.containsBean(name + FunctionRegistration.REGISTRATION_NAME_SUFFIX)) { // e.g., Kotlin lambdas
@@ -186,7 +184,6 @@ public class BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistry
 				&& !Consumer.class.isAssignableFrom(functionClass);
 	}
 
-
 	private Type discoverFunctionType(Object function, String... names) {
 		boolean beanDefinitionExists = false;
 		for (int i = 0; i < names.length && !beanDefinitionExists; i++) {
@@ -674,6 +671,10 @@ public class BeanFactoryAwareFunctionRegistry
 		}
 
 		private boolean messageNeedsConversion(Type rawType, Message<?> message) {
+			String skipConversion = message.getHeaders().get(FunctionProperties.SKIP_CONVERSION_HEADER, String.class);
+			if (StringUtils.hasText(skipConversion) && Boolean.valueOf(skipConversion))  {
+				return false;
+			}
 			return rawType instanceof Class<?>
 				&& !(message.getPayload() instanceof Optional)
 				&& !(message.getPayload().getClass().isAssignableFrom(((Class<?>) rawType)));