diff --git a/events/kafka_test.go b/events/kafka_test.go
index 27fdd91c..d34022a7 100644
--- a/events/kafka_test.go
+++ b/events/kafka_test.go
@@ -39,6 +39,15 @@ func TestKafkaEventMarshaling(t *testing.T) {
 			}
 		}
 	}
+
+	// 3. serialize to JSON
+	outputJson, err := json.Marshal(inputEvent)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("could not marshal event. details: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	// 4. check result
+	assert.JSONEq(t, string(inputJson), string(outputJson))
 }
 
 func TestKafkaMarshalingMalformedJson(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/events/testdata/kafka-event.json b/events/testdata/kafka-event.json
index beec3cd6..d84b1c61 100644
--- a/events/testdata/kafka-event.json
+++ b/events/testdata/kafka-event.json
@@ -14,19 +14,7 @@
           "value": "OGQ1NTk2YjQtMTgxMy00MjM4LWIyNGItNmRhZDhlM2QxYzBj",
           "headers": [
             {
-              "headerKey": [
-                104,
-                101,
-                97,
-                100,
-                101,
-                114,
-                86,
-                97,
-                108,
-                117,
-                101
-              ]
+              "headerKey": "aGVhZGVyVmFsdWU="
             }
           ]
         }