diff --git a/plugins/out_kafka/kafka.c b/plugins/out_kafka/kafka.c
index 55539d3a4c8..2205066af25 100644
--- a/plugins/out_kafka/kafka.c
+++ b/plugins/out_kafka/kafka.c
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@ int produce_message(struct flb_time *tm, msgpack_object *map,
     int i;
     int ret;
     int size;
-    char *json_buf;
-    size_t json_size;
+    char *out_buf;
+    size_t out_size;
     struct flb_kafka_topic *topic = NULL;
     msgpack_sbuffer mp_sbuf;
     msgpack_packer mp_pck;
@@ -111,12 +111,18 @@ int produce_message(struct flb_time *tm, msgpack_object *map,
         }
     }
 
-    ret = flb_msgpack_raw_to_json_str(mp_sbuf.data, mp_sbuf.size,
-                                      &json_buf, &json_size);
-    if (ret != 0) {
-        flb_error("[out_kafka] error encoding to JSON");
-        msgpack_sbuffer_destroy(&mp_sbuf);
-        return FLB_ERROR;
+    if (ctx->format == FLB_KAFKA_FMT_JSON) {
+        ret = flb_msgpack_raw_to_json_str(mp_sbuf.data, mp_sbuf.size,
+                                          &out_buf, &out_size);
+        if (ret != 0) {
+            flb_error("[out_kafka] error encoding to JSON");
+            msgpack_sbuffer_destroy(&mp_sbuf);
+            return FLB_ERROR;
+        }
+    }
+    else if (ctx->format == FLB_KAFKA_FMT_MSGP) {
+        out_buf = mp_sbuf.data;
+        out_size = mp_sbuf.size;
     }
 
     if (!topic) {
@@ -131,7 +137,7 @@ int produce_message(struct flb_time *tm, msgpack_object *map,
     ret = rd_kafka_produce(topic->tp,
                            RD_KAFKA_PARTITION_UA,
                            RD_KAFKA_MSG_F_COPY,
-                           json_buf, json_size,
+                           out_buf, out_size,
                            ctx->message_key, ctx->message_key_len,
                            NULL);
     if (ret == -1) {
@@ -145,7 +151,9 @@ int produce_message(struct flb_time *tm, msgpack_object *map,
         rd_kafka_poll(ctx->producer, -1);
     }
 
-    flb_free(json_buf);
+    if (ctx->format == FLB_KAFKA_FMT_JSON) {
+        flb_free(out_buf);
+    }
     msgpack_sbuffer_destroy(&mp_sbuf);
     return FLB_OK;
 }
diff --git a/plugins/out_kafka/kafka_config.c b/plugins/out_kafka/kafka_config.c
index 6f6a5eaee0b..da2795b9acc 100644
--- a/plugins/out_kafka/kafka_config.c
+++ b/plugins/out_kafka/kafka_config.c
@@ -85,7 +85,6 @@ struct flb_kafka *flb_kafka_conf_create(struct flb_output_instance *ins,
     /* Callback: log */
     rd_kafka_conf_set_log_cb(ctx->conf, cb_kafka_logger);
 
-
     /* Config: Topic_Key */
     tmp = flb_output_get_property("topic_key", ins);
     if (tmp) {
@@ -96,6 +95,20 @@ struct flb_kafka *flb_kafka_conf_create(struct flb_output_instance *ins,
         ctx->topic_key = NULL;
     }
 
+    /* Config: Format */
+    tmp = flb_output_get_property("format", ins);
+    if (tmp) {
+        if (strcasecmp(tmp, "json") == 0) {
+            ctx->format = FLB_KAFKA_FMT_JSON;
+        }
+        else if (strcasecmp(tmp, "msgpack") == 0) {
+            ctx->format = FLB_KAFKA_FMT_MSGP;
+        }
+    }
+    else {
+        ctx->format = FLB_KAFKA_FMT_JSON;
+    }
+
     /* Config: Message_Key */
     tmp = flb_output_get_property("message_key", ins);
     if (tmp) {
@@ -172,9 +185,6 @@ int flb_kafka_conf_destroy(struct flb_kafka *ctx)
     if (ctx->producer) {
         rd_kafka_destroy(ctx->producer);
     }
-    if (ctx->conf) {
-        //rd_kafka_conf_destroy(ctx->conf);
-    }
 
     if (ctx->topic_key) {
         flb_free(ctx->topic_key);
diff --git a/plugins/out_kafka/kafka_config.h b/plugins/out_kafka/kafka_config.h
index 1416938958b..e60f5dc0664 100644
--- a/plugins/out_kafka/kafka_config.h
+++ b/plugins/out_kafka/kafka_config.h
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 
 #include "rdkafka.h"
 
+#define FLB_KAFKA_FMT_JSON  0
+#define FLB_KAFKA_FMT_MSGP  1
 #define FLB_KAFKA_BROKERS   "127.0.0.1"
 #define FLB_KAFKA_TOPIC     "fluent-bit"
 #define FLB_KAFKA_TS_KEY    "@timestamp"
@@ -38,6 +40,7 @@ struct flb_kafka_topic {
 
 struct flb_kafka {
     /* Config Parameters */
+    int format;
     char *brokers;
 
     /* Optional topic key for routing */