diff --git a/functionaltests/cli/v1/smoke/test_secret.py b/functionaltests/cli/v1/smoke/test_secret.py
index 7db17a6e..a9da6b61 100644
--- a/functionaltests/cli/v1/smoke/test_secret.py
+++ b/functionaltests/cli/v1/smoke/test_secret.py
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class SecretTestCase(CmdLineTestCase):
     @testcase.attr('positive')
     def test_secret_store_with_secret_type(self, secret_type, algorithm,
                                            bit_length, secret):
-        payload = base64.b64encode(secret)
+        payload = secret
         secret_argv = ['--secret-type', secret_type]
         if algorithm:
             secret_argv.extend(['--algorithm', algorithm])
diff --git a/functionaltests/client/v1/functional/test_secrets.py b/functionaltests/client/v1/functional/test_secrets.py
index 650b61c1..d2a2c877 100644
--- a/functionaltests/client/v1/functional/test_secrets.py
+++ b/functionaltests/client/v1/functional/test_secrets.py
@@ -339,7 +339,8 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         secret.secret_type = secret_type
         secret.algorithm = algorithm
         secret.bit_length = bit_length
-        secret.payload = base64.b64encode(payload)
+        # payload should not be encoded.
+        secret.payload = payload
 
         secret_ref = self.cleanup.add_entity(secret)
         self.assertIsNotNone(secret_ref)
@@ -756,7 +757,8 @@ class SecretsTestCase(base.TestCase):
         secret.secret_type = secret_type
         secret.algorithm = algorithm
         secret.bit_length = bit_length
-        secret.payload = base64.b64encode(payload)
+        # payload should not be encoded.
+        secret.payload = payload
 
         secret_ref = self.cleanup.add_entity(secret)
         self.assertIsNotNone(secret_ref)