diff --git a/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/DeviceEventConverter.java b/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/DeviceEventConverter.java
index 3d2eea1..b5bd01b 100644
--- a/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/DeviceEventConverter.java
+++ b/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/DeviceEventConverter.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
     private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
 
     @Override
-    public GeneratedMessageV3 convertToProtoMessage(Event<?, ?> event) {
+    public byte[] convertToProtoMessage(Event<?, ?> event) {
 
         DeviceEvent deviceEvent = (DeviceEvent) event;
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
             return null;
         }
 
-        return buildDeviceProtoMessage(deviceEvent);
+        return ((GeneratedMessageV3) buildDeviceProtoMessage(deviceEvent)).toByteArray();
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/EventConverter.java b/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/EventConverter.java
index 42736b4..83c62d6 100644
--- a/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/EventConverter.java
+++ b/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/EventConverter.java
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 
 import org.onosproject.event.Event;
 
-import com.google.protobuf.GeneratedMessageV3;
 
 /**
  *
@@ -30,8 +29,7 @@
      * to Kafka.
      *
      * @param event ONOS Event object
-     * @return converted data in protobuf format.
+     * @return converted data in protobuf format as a byte array.
      */
-    // FIXME reconsider return type, something similar to "OnosEvent"?
-    GeneratedMessageV3 convertToProtoMessage(Event<?, ?> event);
+    byte[] convertToProtoMessage(Event<?, ?> event);
 }
diff --git a/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/LinkEventConverter.java b/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/LinkEventConverter.java
index c878a26..c2cf60d 100644
--- a/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/LinkEventConverter.java
+++ b/apps/kafka-integration/core/src/main/java/org/onosproject/kafkaintegration/converter/LinkEventConverter.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
     private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());
 
     @Override
-    public GeneratedMessageV3 convertToProtoMessage(Event<?, ?> event) {
+    public byte[] convertToProtoMessage(Event<?, ?> event) {
 
         LinkEvent linkEvent = (LinkEvent) event;
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
             return null;
         }
 
-        return buildDeviceProtoMessage(linkEvent);
+        return ((GeneratedMessageV3) buildDeviceProtoMessage(linkEvent)).toByteArray();
     }
 
     private boolean linkEventTypeSupported(LinkEvent event) {