diff --git a/oslo_messaging/_drivers/common.py b/oslo_messaging/_drivers/common.py
index 7b446d74d..bad575832 100644
--- a/oslo_messaging/_drivers/common.py
+++ b/oslo_messaging/_drivers/common.py
@@ -197,13 +197,13 @@ def serialize_remote_exception(failure_info, log_failure=True):
         'kwargs': kwargs
     }
 
-    json_data = jsonutils.dumps(data)
+    json_data = jsonutils.dump_as_bytes(data)
 
     return json_data
 
 
 def deserialize_remote_exception(data, allowed_remote_exmods):
-    failure = jsonutils.loads(six.text_type(data))
+    failure = jsonutils.loads(data)
 
     trace = failure.get('tb', [])
     message = failure.get('message', "") + "\n" + "\n".join(trace)
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ def serialize_msg(raw_msg):
     # NOTE(russellb) See the docstring for _RPC_ENVELOPE_VERSION for more
     # information about this format.
     msg = {_VERSION_KEY: _RPC_ENVELOPE_VERSION,
-           _MESSAGE_KEY: jsonutils.dumps(raw_msg)}
+           _MESSAGE_KEY: jsonutils.dump_as_bytes(raw_msg)}
 
     return msg
 
diff --git a/oslo_messaging/_drivers/impl_kafka.py b/oslo_messaging/_drivers/impl_kafka.py
index 11b72bb28..79511fef3 100644
--- a/oslo_messaging/_drivers/impl_kafka.py
+++ b/oslo_messaging/_drivers/impl_kafka.py
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class Connection(object):
     def _send_and_retry(self, message, topic, retry):
         current_retry = 0
         if not isinstance(message, str):
-            message = jsonutils.dumps(message)
+            message = jsonutils.dump_as_bytes(message)
         while message is not None:
             try:
                 self._send(message, topic)
diff --git a/oslo_messaging/_drivers/protocols/amqp/driver.py b/oslo_messaging/_drivers/protocols/amqp/driver.py
index 04feb2de1..68efdcb3c 100644
--- a/oslo_messaging/_drivers/protocols/amqp/driver.py
+++ b/oslo_messaging/_drivers/protocols/amqp/driver.py
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ def marshal_response(reply=None, failure=None):
         data = {"failure": failure}
     else:
         data = {"response": reply}
-    msg.body = jsonutils.dumps(data)
+    msg.body = jsonutils.dump_as_bytes(data)
     return msg
 
 
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ def marshal_request(request, context, envelope):
         "request": request,
         "context": context
     }
-    msg.body = jsonutils.dumps(data)
+    msg.body = jsonutils.dump_as_bytes(data)
     return msg
 
 
diff --git a/oslo_messaging/notify/_impl_log.py b/oslo_messaging/notify/_impl_log.py
index 7322f07b6..ceca6d451 100644
--- a/oslo_messaging/notify/_impl_log.py
+++ b/oslo_messaging/notify/_impl_log.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ class LogDriver(notifier.Driver):
                                               message['event_type']))
         method = getattr(logger, priority.lower(), None)
         if method:
+            # NOTE: The logger needs json formatted string instead of bytes
             method(jsonutils.dumps(strutils.mask_dict_password(message)))
         else:
             warnings.warn('Unable to log message as notify cannot find a '
diff --git a/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_impl_kafka.py b/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_impl_kafka.py
index 7f1d5e377..5843d92ce 100644
--- a/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_impl_kafka.py
+++ b/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_impl_kafka.py
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ class TestKafkaConnection(test_utils.BaseTestCase):
 
         conn.consumer = mock.MagicMock()
         conn.consumer.fetch_messages = mock.MagicMock(
-            return_value=iter([jsonutils.dumps(fake_message)]))
+            return_value=iter([jsonutils.dump_as_bytes(fake_message)]))
 
         self.assertEqual(fake_message, jsonutils.loads(conn.consume()[0]))
         self.assertEqual(1, len(conn.consumer.fetch_messages.mock_calls))
diff --git a/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_impl_rabbit.py b/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_impl_rabbit.py
index bb449606d..b1040f26f 100644
--- a/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_impl_rabbit.py
+++ b/oslo_messaging/tests/drivers/test_impl_rabbit.py
@@ -919,7 +919,7 @@ class TestReplyWireFormat(test_utils.BaseTestCase):
             '_reply_q': 'reply_' + uuid.uuid4().hex,
         })
 
-        msg['oslo.message'] = jsonutils.dumps(msg['oslo.message'])
+        msg['oslo.message'] = jsonutils.dump_as_bytes(msg['oslo.message'])
 
         producer.publish(msg)
 
diff --git a/oslo_messaging/tests/test_exception_serialization.py b/oslo_messaging/tests/test_exception_serialization.py
index c1079c0a4..0b2998c00 100644
--- a/oslo_messaging/tests/test_exception_serialization.py
+++ b/oslo_messaging/tests/test_exception_serialization.py
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ class DeserializeRemoteExceptionTestCase(test_utils.BaseTestCase):
             'kwargs': self.kwargs,
         }
 
-        serialized = jsonutils.dumps(failure)
+        serialized = jsonutils.dump_as_bytes(failure)
 
         ex = exceptions.deserialize_remote_exception(serialized, self.allowed)