diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 32f24a696..3959ae134 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 	<parent>
 		<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
 		<artifactId>spring-cloud-build</artifactId>
-		<version>2.1.0.RC3</version>
+		<version>2.1.0.BUILD-SNAPSHOT</version>
 		<relativePath />
 	</parent>
 	<properties>
diff --git a/spring-cloud-stream-binder-kafka/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/kafka/KafkaBinderTests.java b/spring-cloud-stream-binder-kafka/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/kafka/KafkaBinderTests.java
index e3c891ab6..ee86890a5 100644
--- a/spring-cloud-stream-binder-kafka/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/kafka/KafkaBinderTests.java
+++ b/spring-cloud-stream-binder-kafka/src/test/java/org/springframework/cloud/stream/binder/kafka/KafkaBinderTests.java
@@ -323,10 +323,10 @@ public class KafkaBinderTests extends
 
 		moduleOutputChannel.send(message);
 		CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
-		AtomicReference<Message<String>> inboundMessageRef = new AtomicReference<>();
+		AtomicReference<Message<byte[]>> inboundMessageRef = new AtomicReference<>();
 		moduleInputChannel.subscribe(message1 -> {
 			try {
-				inboundMessageRef.set((Message<String>) message1);
+				inboundMessageRef.set((Message<byte[]>) message1);
 			}
 			finally {
 				latch.countDown();
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@ public class KafkaBinderTests extends
 
 
 		Assertions.assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get()).isNotNull();
-		Assertions.assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get().getPayload()).isEqualTo("foo");
+		Assertions.assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get().getPayload()).isEqualTo("foo".getBytes());
 		Assertions.assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get().getHeaders().get(BinderHeaders.BINDER_ORIGINAL_CONTENT_TYPE)).isNull();
 		Assertions.assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get().getHeaders().get(MessageHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE))
 				.isEqualTo(MimeTypeUtils.TEXT_PLAIN);
@@ -374,10 +374,10 @@ public class KafkaBinderTests extends
 				.setHeader(MessageHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE, MimeTypeUtils.TEXT_PLAIN).build();
 		moduleOutputChannel.send(message);
 		CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
-		AtomicReference<Message<String>> inboundMessageRef = new AtomicReference<>();
+		AtomicReference<Message<byte[]>> inboundMessageRef = new AtomicReference<>();
 		moduleInputChannel.subscribe(message1 -> {
 			try {
-				inboundMessageRef.set((Message<String>) message1);
+				inboundMessageRef.set((Message<byte[]>) message1);
 			}
 			finally {
 				latch.countDown();
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ public class KafkaBinderTests extends
 		Assert.isTrue(latch.await(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS), "Failed to receive message");
 
 		assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get()).isNotNull();
-		assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get().getPayload()).isEqualTo("foo");
+		assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get().getPayload()).isEqualTo("foo".getBytes());
 		assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get().getHeaders().get(MessageHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE))
 				.isEqualTo(MimeTypeUtils.TEXT_PLAIN);
 		producerBinding.unbind();
@@ -2421,10 +2421,10 @@ public class KafkaBinderTests extends
 			binderBindUnbindLatency();
 			moduleOutputChannel.send(message);
 			CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
-			AtomicReference<Message<String>> inboundMessageRef = new AtomicReference<>();
+			AtomicReference<Message<byte[]>> inboundMessageRef = new AtomicReference<>();
 			moduleInputChannel.subscribe(message1 -> {
 				try {
-					inboundMessageRef.set((Message<String>) message1);
+					inboundMessageRef.set((Message<byte[]>) message1);
 				}
 				finally {
 					latch.countDown();
@@ -2433,7 +2433,7 @@ public class KafkaBinderTests extends
 			Assert.isTrue(latch.await(5, TimeUnit.SECONDS), "Failed to receive message");
 
 			assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get()).isNotNull();
-			assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get().getPayload()).isEqualTo("test");
+			assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get().getPayload()).isEqualTo("test".getBytes());
 			assertThat(inboundMessageRef.get().getHeaders()).containsEntry("contentType", MimeTypeUtils.TEXT_PLAIN);
 		}
 		finally {