diff --git a/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/state/StateClient.java b/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/state/StateClient.java
index 2363f96c03..cbf01e6d0f 100644
--- a/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/state/StateClient.java
+++ b/examples/src/main/java/io/dapr/examples/state/StateClient.java
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
 
       // get multiple states
       Mono<List<State<MyClass>>> retrievedMessagesMono = client.getBulkState(STATE_STORE_NAME,
-          Arrays.asList(FIRST_KEY_NAME, SECOND_KEY_NAME), MyClass.class);
+              Arrays.asList(FIRST_KEY_NAME, SECOND_KEY_NAME), MyClass.class);
       System.out.println("Retrieved messages using bulk get:");
       retrievedMessagesMono.block().forEach(System.out::println);
 
@@ -114,11 +114,11 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
       // Delete operation using transaction API
       operationList.clear();
       operationList.add(new TransactionalStateOperation<>(TransactionalStateOperation.OperationType.DELETE,
-          new State<>(SECOND_KEY_NAME)));
+              new State<>(SECOND_KEY_NAME)));
       client.executeStateTransaction(STATE_STORE_NAME, operationList).block();
 
       Mono<List<State<MyClass>>> retrievedDeletedMessageMono = client.getBulkState(STATE_STORE_NAME,
-          Arrays.asList(FIRST_KEY_NAME, SECOND_KEY_NAME), MyClass.class);
+              Arrays.asList(FIRST_KEY_NAME, SECOND_KEY_NAME), MyClass.class);
       System.out.println("Trying to retrieve deleted states:");
       retrievedDeletedMessageMono.block().forEach(System.out::println);
 
diff --git a/sdk-actors/src/main/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/ActorObjectSerializer.java b/sdk-actors/src/main/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/ActorObjectSerializer.java
index 131c3521c8..5aabe33439 100644
--- a/sdk-actors/src/main/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/ActorObjectSerializer.java
+++ b/sdk-actors/src/main/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/ActorObjectSerializer.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
 import io.dapr.client.ObjectSerializer;
+import io.dapr.serializer.SerializedData;
 import io.dapr.utils.DurationUtils;
 
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
@@ -37,28 +38,28 @@ public class ActorObjectSerializer extends ObjectSerializer {
    * {@inheritDoc}
    */
   @Override
-  public byte[] serialize(Object state) throws IOException {
+  public SerializedData serializeWithContentType(Object state) throws IOException {
     if (state == null) {
       return null;
     }
 
     if (state.getClass() == ActorTimerParams.class) {
       // Special serializer for this internal classes.
-      return serialize((ActorTimerParams) state);
+      return new SerializedData(serialize((ActorTimerParams) state), "application/json");
     }
 
     if (state.getClass() == ActorReminderParams.class) {
       // Special serializer for this internal classes.
-      return serialize((ActorReminderParams) state);
+      return new SerializedData(serialize((ActorReminderParams) state), "application/json");
     }
 
     if (state.getClass() == ActorRuntimeConfig.class) {
       // Special serializer for this internal classes.
-      return serialize((ActorRuntimeConfig) state);
+      return new SerializedData(serialize((ActorRuntimeConfig) state), "application/json");
     }
 
     // Is not an special case.
-    return super.serialize(state);
+    return super.serializeWithContentType(state);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/sdk-actors/src/main/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/ActorRuntime.java b/sdk-actors/src/main/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/ActorRuntime.java
index d329946e5a..9389a04bea 100644
--- a/sdk-actors/src/main/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/ActorRuntime.java
+++ b/sdk-actors/src/main/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/ActorRuntime.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import io.dapr.config.Properties;
 import io.dapr.serializer.DaprObjectSerializer;
 import io.dapr.serializer.DefaultObjectSerializer;
+import io.dapr.serializer.SerializedData;
 import io.dapr.utils.NetworkUtils;
 import io.grpc.ManagedChannel;
 import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
@@ -170,7 +171,7 @@ public ActorRuntimeConfig getConfig() {
    * @throws IOException If cannot serialize config.
    */
   public byte[] serializeConfig() throws IOException {
-    return INTERNAL_SERIALIZER.serialize(this.config);
+    return INTERNAL_SERIALIZER.serializeWithContentType(this.config).getData();
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/sdk-actors/src/test/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/JavaSerializer.java b/sdk-actors/src/test/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/JavaSerializer.java
index 28c39e8b8d..6ee2cc53c6 100644
--- a/sdk-actors/src/test/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/JavaSerializer.java
+++ b/sdk-actors/src/test/java/io/dapr/actors/runtime/JavaSerializer.java
@@ -14,8 +14,10 @@
 package io.dapr.actors.runtime;
 
 import io.dapr.serializer.DaprObjectSerializer;
+import io.dapr.serializer.SerializedData;
 import io.dapr.utils.TypeRef;
 
+import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -31,12 +33,13 @@ public class JavaSerializer implements DaprObjectSerializer {
    * {@inheritDoc}
    */
   @Override
-  public byte[] serialize(Object o) throws IOException {
+  @Nonnull
+  public SerializedData serializeWithContentType(Object o) throws IOException {
     try (ByteArrayOutputStream bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream()) {
       try (ObjectOutputStream oos = new ObjectOutputStream(bos)) {
         oos.writeObject(o);
         oos.flush();
-        return bos.toByteArray();
+        return new SerializedData(bos.toByteArray(), "application/java");
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/pubsub/http/PubSubIT.java b/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/pubsub/http/PubSubIT.java
index 57b9485e97..0a3b49ebc0 100644
--- a/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/pubsub/http/PubSubIT.java
+++ b/sdk-tests/src/test/java/io/dapr/it/pubsub/http/PubSubIT.java
@@ -31,11 +31,13 @@
 import io.dapr.it.BaseIT;
 import io.dapr.it.DaprRun;
 import io.dapr.serializer.DaprObjectSerializer;
+import io.dapr.serializer.SerializedData;
 import io.dapr.utils.TypeRef;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
+import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -138,8 +140,9 @@ public void testBulkPublish() throws Exception {
         60000));
     DaprObjectSerializer serializer = new DaprObjectSerializer() {
       @Override
-      public byte[] serialize(Object o) throws JsonProcessingException {
-        return OBJECT_MAPPER.writeValueAsBytes(o);
+      @Nonnull
+      public SerializedData serializeWithContentType(Object o) throws JsonProcessingException {
+        return new SerializedData(OBJECT_MAPPER.writeValueAsBytes(o), getContentType());
       }
 
       @Override
@@ -266,9 +269,9 @@ public void testPubSub() throws Exception {
         60000));
 
     DaprObjectSerializer serializer = new DaprObjectSerializer() {
-      @Override
-      public byte[] serialize(Object o) throws JsonProcessingException {
-        return OBJECT_MAPPER.writeValueAsBytes(o);
+      @Nonnull
+      public SerializedData serializeWithContentType(Object o) throws JsonProcessingException {
+        return new SerializedData(OBJECT_MAPPER.writeValueAsBytes(o), getContentType());
       }
 
       @Override
@@ -480,9 +483,9 @@ public void testPubSubBinary() throws Exception {
         60000));
 
     DaprObjectSerializer serializer = new DaprObjectSerializer() {
-      @Override
-      public byte[] serialize(Object o) {
-        return (byte[])o;
+      @Nonnull
+      public SerializedData serializeWithContentType(Object o) throws JsonProcessingException {
+        return new SerializedData((byte[])o, getContentType());
       }
 
       @Override
diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/AbstractDaprClient.java b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/AbstractDaprClient.java
index 628a4c5ab9..11f74120be 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/AbstractDaprClient.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/AbstractDaprClient.java
@@ -501,11 +501,7 @@ public Mono<Void> saveState(String storeName, String key, Object value) {
    */
   @Override
   public Mono<Void> saveState(String storeName, String key, String etag, Object value, StateOptions options) {
-    Map<String, String> meta = null;
-    if (value != null) {
-      meta = Collections.singletonMap("contentType", stateSerializer.getContentType());
-    }
-    State<?> state = new State<>(key, value, etag, meta, options);
+    State<?> state = new State<>(key, value, etag, null, options);
     return this.saveBulkState(storeName, Collections.singletonList(state));
   }
 
diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/DaprClientImpl.java b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/DaprClientImpl.java
index 0c1264eb19..5591059aff 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/DaprClientImpl.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/DaprClientImpl.java
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@
 import io.dapr.internal.resiliency.TimeoutPolicy;
 import io.dapr.serializer.DaprObjectSerializer;
 import io.dapr.serializer.DefaultObjectSerializer;
+import io.dapr.serializer.SerializedData;
 import io.dapr.utils.DefaultContentTypeConverter;
 import io.dapr.utils.TypeRef;
 import io.dapr.v1.CommonProtos;
@@ -309,16 +310,17 @@ public Mono<Void> publishEvent(PublishEventRequest request) {
       String pubsubName = request.getPubsubName();
       String topic = request.getTopic();
       Object data = request.getData();
+      SerializedData serialized = objectSerializer.serializeWithContentType(data);
       DaprProtos.PublishEventRequest.Builder envelopeBuilder = DaprProtos.PublishEventRequest.newBuilder()
           .setTopic(topic)
           .setPubsubName(pubsubName)
-          .setData(ByteString.copyFrom(objectSerializer.serialize(data)));
+          .setData(ByteString.copyFrom(serialized.getData()));
 
       // Content-type can be overwritten on a per-request basis.
       // It allows CloudEvents to be handled differently, for example.
       String contentType = request.getContentType();
       if (contentType == null || contentType.isEmpty()) {
-        contentType = objectSerializer.getContentType();
+        contentType = serialized.getContentType();
       }
       envelopeBuilder.setDataContentType(contentType);
 
@@ -367,11 +369,12 @@ public <T> Mono<BulkPublishResponse<T>> publishEvents(BulkPublishRequest<T> requ
             // perform the serialization as per user given input of serializer
             // this is also the case when content type is empty
 
-            data = objectSerializer.serialize(event);
+            SerializedData serialized = objectSerializer.serializeWithContentType(event);
+            data = serialized.getData();
 
             if (Strings.isNullOrEmpty(contentType)) {
               // Only override content type if not given in input by user
-              contentType = objectSerializer.getContentType();
+              contentType = serialized.getContentType();
             }
           }
         } catch (IOException ex) {
@@ -513,15 +516,15 @@ public <T> Mono<T> invokeMethod(InvokeMethodRequest invokeMethodRequest, TypeRef
       if (metadata != null) {
         headers.putAll(metadata);
       }
-      byte[] serializedRequestBody = objectSerializer.serialize(request);
+      SerializedData serialized = objectSerializer.serializeWithContentType(request);
       if (contentType != null && !contentType.isEmpty()) {
         headers.put(io.dapr.client.domain.Metadata.CONTENT_TYPE, contentType);
       } else {
-        headers.put(io.dapr.client.domain.Metadata.CONTENT_TYPE, objectSerializer.getContentType());
+        headers.put(io.dapr.client.domain.Metadata.CONTENT_TYPE, serialized.getContentType());
       }
       Mono<DaprHttp.Response> response = Mono.deferContextual(
           context -> this.httpClient.invokeApi(httpMethod, pathSegments.toArray(new String[0]),
-              httpExtension.getQueryParams(), serializedRequestBody, headers, context)
+              httpExtension.getQueryParams(), serialized.getData(), headers, context)
       );
       return response.flatMap(r -> getMonoForHttpResponse(type, r));
     } catch (Exception ex) {
@@ -564,15 +567,21 @@ public <T> Mono<T> invokeBinding(InvokeBindingRequest request, TypeRef<T> type)
         throw new IllegalArgumentException("Binding operation cannot be null or empty.");
       }
 
-      byte[] byteData = objectSerializer.serialize(data);
+      SerializedData serialized = objectSerializer.serializeWithContentType(data);
       DaprProtos.InvokeBindingRequest.Builder builder = DaprProtos.InvokeBindingRequest.newBuilder()
           .setName(name).setOperation(operation);
-      if (byteData != null) {
-        builder.setData(ByteString.copyFrom(byteData));
+      if (serialized.getData() != null) {
+        builder.setData(ByteString.copyFrom(serialized.getData()));
       }
       if (metadata != null) {
         builder.putAllMetadata(metadata);
       }
+      if (builder.getMetadataMap() == null || builder.getMetadataMap().get("contentType") == null) {
+        if (serialized.getContentType() != null && !serialized.getContentType().isEmpty()) {
+          builder.putMetadata("contentType", serialized.getContentType());
+        }
+      }
+
       DaprProtos.InvokeBindingRequest envelope = builder.build();
 
       Metadata responseMetadata = new Metadata();
@@ -812,7 +821,7 @@ public Mono<Void> saveBulkState(SaveStateRequest request) {
   }
 
   private <T> CommonProtos.StateItem.Builder buildStateRequest(State<T> state) throws IOException {
-    byte[] bytes = stateSerializer.serialize(state.getValue());
+    SerializedData serialized = stateSerializer.serializeWithContentType(state.getValue());
 
     CommonProtos.StateItem.Builder stateBuilder = CommonProtos.StateItem.newBuilder();
     if (state.getEtag() != null) {
@@ -821,8 +830,13 @@ private <T> CommonProtos.StateItem.Builder buildStateRequest(State<T> state) thr
     if (state.getMetadata() != null) {
       stateBuilder.putAllMetadata(state.getMetadata());
     }
-    if (bytes != null) {
-      stateBuilder.setValue(ByteString.copyFrom(bytes));
+    if (serialized.getData() != null) {
+      stateBuilder.setValue(ByteString.copyFrom(serialized.getData()));
+    }
+    if (stateBuilder.getMetadataMap() == null || stateBuilder.getMetadataMap().get("contentType") == null) {
+      if (serialized.getContentType() != null && !serialized.getContentType().isEmpty()) {
+        stateBuilder.putMetadata("contentType", serialized.getContentType());
+      }
     }
     stateBuilder.setKey(state.getKey());
     CommonProtos.StateOptions.Builder optionBuilder = null;
diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/ObjectSerializer.java b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/ObjectSerializer.java
index a131060b90..a2008c6aef 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/ObjectSerializer.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/client/ObjectSerializer.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
 import com.google.protobuf.MessageLite;
 import io.dapr.client.domain.CloudEvent;
+import io.dapr.serializer.SerializedData;
 import io.dapr.utils.TypeRef;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -51,26 +52,37 @@ protected ObjectSerializer() {
    * @throws IOException In case state cannot be serialized.
    */
   public byte[] serialize(Object state) throws IOException {
+    return serializeWithContentType(state).getData();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Serializes a given state object into byte array and contentType.
+   *
+   * @param state State object to be serialized.
+   * @return Array of bytes[] with the serialized content.
+   * @throws IOException In case state cannot be serialized.
+   */
+  public SerializedData serializeWithContentType(Object state) throws IOException {
     if (state == null) {
-      return null;
+      return SerializedData.NULL;
     }
 
     if (state.getClass() == Void.class) {
-      return null;
+      return SerializedData.NULL;
     }
 
     // Have this check here to be consistent with deserialization (see deserialize() method below).
     if (state instanceof byte[]) {
-      return (byte[]) state;
+      return new SerializedData((byte[]) state, "application/octet-stream");
     }
 
     // Proto buffer class is serialized directly.
     if (state instanceof MessageLite) {
-      return ((MessageLite) state).toByteArray();
+      return new SerializedData(((MessageLite) state).toByteArray(), "application/protobuf");
     }
 
     // Not string, not primitive, so it is a complex type: we use JSON for that.
-    return OBJECT_MAPPER.writeValueAsBytes(state);
+    return new SerializedData(OBJECT_MAPPER.writeValueAsBytes(state), "application/json");
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/DaprObjectSerializer.java b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/DaprObjectSerializer.java
index 6cd1af65ca..bdac5e724b 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/DaprObjectSerializer.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/DaprObjectSerializer.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 import io.dapr.utils.TypeRef;
 
+import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 /**
@@ -29,14 +30,26 @@ public interface DaprObjectSerializer {
    * @return Serialized object.
    * @throws IOException If cannot serialize.
    */
-  byte[] serialize(Object o) throws IOException;
+  default byte[] serialize(Object o) throws IOException {
+    return serializeWithContentType(o).getData();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Serializes the given object as byte[] and returns it as a {@link SerializedData} with contentType.
+   *
+   * @param obj Object to be serialized.
+   * @return Serialized object.
+   * @throws IOException If cannot serialize.
+   */
+  @Nonnull
+  SerializedData serializeWithContentType(Object obj) throws IOException;
 
   /**
    * Deserializes the given byte[] into a object.
    *
    * @param data Data to be deserialized.
    * @param type Type of object to be deserialized.
-   * @param <T> Type of object to be deserialized.
+   * @param <T>  Type of object to be deserialized.
    * @return Deserialized object.
    * @throws IOException If cannot deserialize object.
    */
@@ -44,7 +57,7 @@ public interface DaprObjectSerializer {
 
   /**
    * Returns the content type of the request.
-   * 
+   *
    * @return content type of the request
    */
   String getContentType();
diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/DefaultObjectSerializer.java b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/DefaultObjectSerializer.java
index 3527f2e7a5..c878b5fc27 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/DefaultObjectSerializer.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/DefaultObjectSerializer.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 import io.dapr.client.ObjectSerializer;
 import io.dapr.utils.TypeRef;
 
+import javax.annotation.Nonnull;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 /**
@@ -27,8 +28,9 @@ public class DefaultObjectSerializer extends ObjectSerializer implements DaprObj
    * {@inheritDoc}
    */
   @Override
-  public byte[] serialize(Object o) throws IOException {
-    return super.serialize(o);
+  @Nonnull
+  public SerializedData serializeWithContentType(Object o) throws IOException {
+    return super.serializeWithContentType(o);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/SerializedData.java b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/SerializedData.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..33c2f91f11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/io/dapr/serializer/SerializedData.java
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+package io.dapr.serializer;
+
+/**
+ * Represents a serialized data, with its content type.
+ */
+public class SerializedData {
+
+  public static final SerializedData NULL = new SerializedData(null, null);
+
+  /**
+   * The data has been be serialized.
+   */
+  private final byte[] data;
+
+  /**
+   * The content type of the serialized data.
+   */
+  private final String contentType;
+
+  public SerializedData(byte[] data, String contentType) {
+    this.data = data;
+    this.contentType = contentType;
+  }
+
+  public byte[] getData() {
+    return data;
+  }
+
+  public String getContentType() {
+    return contentType;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/sdk/src/test/java/io/dapr/client/DaprClientGrpcTest.java b/sdk/src/test/java/io/dapr/client/DaprClientGrpcTest.java
index 336f205353..dc84cb5a21 100644
--- a/sdk/src/test/java/io/dapr/client/DaprClientGrpcTest.java
+++ b/sdk/src/test/java/io/dapr/client/DaprClientGrpcTest.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 import io.dapr.client.domain.UnsubscribeConfigurationResponse;
 import io.dapr.serializer.DaprObjectSerializer;
 import io.dapr.serializer.DefaultObjectSerializer;
+import io.dapr.serializer.SerializedData;
 import io.dapr.utils.TypeRef;
 import io.dapr.v1.CommonProtos;
 import io.dapr.v1.DaprGrpc;
@@ -164,7 +165,7 @@ public void publishEventSerializeException() throws IOException {
       return null;
     }).when(daprStub).publishEvent(any(DaprProtos.PublishEventRequest.class), any());
 
-    when(mockSerializer.serialize(any())).thenThrow(IOException.class);
+    when(mockSerializer.serializeWithContentType(any())).thenThrow(IOException.class);
     Mono<Void> result = client.publishEvent("pubsubname","topic", "{invalid-json");
 
     assertThrowsDaprException(
@@ -282,7 +283,7 @@ public void invokeBindingSerializeException() throws IOException {
       return null;
     }).when(daprStub).invokeBinding(any(DaprProtos.InvokeBindingRequest.class), any());
 
-    when(mockSerializer.serialize(any())).thenThrow(IOException.class);
+    when(mockSerializer.serializeWithContentType(any())).thenThrow(IOException.class);
     Mono<Void> result = client.invokeBinding("BindingName", "MyOperation", "request".getBytes(), Collections.EMPTY_MAP);
 
     assertThrowsDaprException(
@@ -1031,7 +1032,7 @@ public void executeTransactionSerializerExceptionTest() throws IOException {
     }).when(daprStub).executeStateTransaction(any(DaprProtos.ExecuteStateTransactionRequest.class), any());
 
 
-    when(mockSerializer.serialize(any())).thenThrow(IOException.class);
+    when(mockSerializer.serializeWithContentType(any())).thenThrow(IOException.class);
     State<String> stateKey = buildStateKey(data, key, etag, options);
     TransactionalStateOperation<String> upsertOperation = new TransactionalStateOperation<>(
         TransactionalStateOperation.OperationType.UPSERT,
diff --git a/sdk/src/test/java/io/dapr/client/DaprPreviewClientGrpcTest.java b/sdk/src/test/java/io/dapr/client/DaprPreviewClientGrpcTest.java
index a28dad0f42..f329483e23 100644
--- a/sdk/src/test/java/io/dapr/client/DaprPreviewClientGrpcTest.java
+++ b/sdk/src/test/java/io/dapr/client/DaprPreviewClientGrpcTest.java
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ public void publishEventsSerializeException() throws IOException {
 				"application/json", null);
 		BulkPublishRequest<Map<String, String>> req = new BulkPublishRequest<>(PUBSUB_NAME, TOPIC_NAME,
 				Collections.singletonList(entry));
-		when(mockSerializer.serialize(any())).thenThrow(IOException.class);
+		when(mockSerializer.serializeWithContentType(any())).thenThrow(IOException.class);
 		Mono<BulkPublishResponse<Map<String, String>>> result = previewClient.publishEvents(req);
 
 		assertThrowsDaprException(