diff --git a/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/ops/JmsMsgSendOp.java b/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/ops/JmsMsgSendOp.java
index f23ac403e..0219124c6 100644
--- a/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/ops/JmsMsgSendOp.java
+++ b/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/ops/JmsMsgSendOp.java
@@ -108,11 +108,10 @@ public class JmsMsgSendOp extends JmsTimeTrackOp {
 
     @Override
     public void run() {
-        int messageSize;
         try {
             byte[] msgBytes = msgBody.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
-            messageSize = msgBytes.length;
-            jmsProducer.send(jmsDestination, msgBody.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+            int messageSize = msgBytes.length;
+            jmsProducer.send(jmsDestination, msgBytes);
 
             messagesizeHistogram.update(messageSize);
             bytesCounter.inc(messageSize);