diff --git a/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/JmsActivity.java b/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/JmsActivity.java
index 396982bbf..39ac5b42d 100644
--- a/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/JmsActivity.java
+++ b/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/JmsActivity.java
@@ -116,13 +116,16 @@ public class JmsActivity extends SimpleActivity {
         );
     }
 
+    private static String buildCacheKey(String... keyParts) {
+        return String.join("::", keyParts);
+    }
+
     /**
      * If the JMS destination that corresponds to a topic exists, reuse it; Otherwise, create it
      */
     public Destination getOrCreateJmsDestination(String jmsDestinationType, String destName) {
-        String encodedTopicStr =
-            JmsUtil.encode(jmsDestinationType, destName);
-        Destination destination = jmsDestinations.get(encodedTopicStr);
+        String destinationCacheKey = buildCacheKey(jmsDestinationType, destName);
+        Destination destination = jmsDestinations.get(destinationCacheKey);
 
         if ( destination == null ) {
             // TODO: should we match Persistent/Non-peristent JMS Delivery mode with
@@ -133,7 +136,7 @@ public class JmsActivity extends SimpleActivity {
                 destination = jmsContext.createTopic(destName);
             }
 
-            jmsDestinations.put(encodedTopicStr, destination);
+            jmsDestinations.put(destinationCacheKey, destination);
         }
 
         return destination;
diff --git a/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/util/JmsUtil.java b/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/util/JmsUtil.java
index 456939417..2b5e0ba14 100644
--- a/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/util/JmsUtil.java
+++ b/driver-jms/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/jms/util/JmsUtil.java
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 package io.nosqlbench.driver.jms.util;
 
-import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.LogManager;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 
 import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Base64;
 
 public class JmsUtil {
 
@@ -102,18 +100,5 @@ public class JmsUtil {
     public static boolean isValidJmsDestinationType(String type) {
         return Arrays.stream(JMS_DESTINATION_TYPES.values()).anyMatch(t -> t.label.equals(type));
     }
-
-    public static String encode(String... strings) {
-        StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
-        for (String str : strings) {
-            if (!StringUtils.isBlank(str))
-                stringBuilder.append(str).append("::");
-        }
-
-        String concatenatedStr =
-            StringUtils.substringBeforeLast(stringBuilder.toString(), "::");
-
-        return Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(concatenatedStr.getBytes());
-    }
 }
 
diff --git a/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/PulsarSpace.java b/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/PulsarSpace.java
index 8f0bbab09..e99b99beb 100644
--- a/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/PulsarSpace.java
+++ b/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/PulsarSpace.java
@@ -233,6 +233,9 @@ public class PulsarSpace {
         };
     }
 
+    private static String buildCacheKey(String... keyParts) {
+        return String.join("::", keyParts);
+    }
 
     public Producer<?> getProducer(String cycleTopicName, String cycleProducerName) {
         String topicName = getEffectiveProducerTopicName(cycleTopicName);
@@ -242,8 +245,8 @@ public class PulsarSpace {
             throw new RuntimeException("Producer:: must specify a topic name either at the global level or the cycle level");
         }
 
-        String encodedStr = PulsarActivityUtil.encode(producerName, topicName);
-        Producer<?> producer = producers.get(encodedStr);
+        String producerCacheKey = buildCacheKey(producerName, topicName);
+        Producer<?> producer = producers.get(producerCacheKey);
 
         if (producer == null) {
             PulsarClient pulsarClient = getPulsarClient();
@@ -273,7 +276,7 @@ public class PulsarSpace {
                 ProducerBuilder producerBuilder = pulsarClient.newProducer(pulsarSchema);
                 producerBuilder.loadConf(producerConf);
                 producer = producerBuilder.create();
-                producers.put(encodedStr, producer);
+                producers.put(producerCacheKey, producer);
 
                 ActivityMetrics.gauge(activityDef, producerMetricsPrefix + "totalbytessent", safeExtractMetric(producer, (s -> s.getTotalBytesSent() + s.getNumBytesSent())));
                 ActivityMetrics.gauge(activityDef, producerMetricsPrefix + "totalmsgssent", safeExtractMetric(producer, (s -> s.getTotalMsgsSent() + s.getNumMsgsSent())));
@@ -449,29 +452,29 @@ public class PulsarSpace {
             throw new RuntimeException("Consumer:: \"topic_uri\", \"topic_names\" and \"topics_pattern\" parameters can't be all empty/invalid!");
         }
 
-        String encodedStr;
+        String consumerCacheKey;
         // precedence sequence:
         //    topic_names (consumer statement param) >
         //      topics_pattern (consumer statement param) >
         //        topic_uri (document level param)
         if (!topicNames.isEmpty()) {
-            encodedStr = PulsarActivityUtil.encode(
+            consumerCacheKey = buildCacheKey(
                 consumerName,
                 subscriptionName,
-                StringUtils.join(topicNames, "|"));
+                String.join("|", topicNames));
         } else if (topicsPattern != null) {
-            encodedStr = PulsarActivityUtil.encode(
+            consumerCacheKey = buildCacheKey(
                 consumerName,
                 subscriptionName,
                 topicsPatternStr);
         } else {
-            encodedStr = PulsarActivityUtil.encode(
+            consumerCacheKey = buildCacheKey(
                 consumerName,
                 subscriptionName,
                 cycleTopicUri);
         }
 
-        Consumer<?> consumer = consumers.get(encodedStr);
+        Consumer<?> consumer = consumers.get(consumerCacheKey);
 
         if (consumer == null) {
             PulsarClient pulsarClient = getPulsarClient();
@@ -508,7 +511,7 @@ public class PulsarSpace {
                 throw new RuntimeException("Unable to create a Pulsar consumer!");
             }
 
-            consumers.put(encodedStr, consumer);
+            consumers.put(consumerCacheKey, consumer);
         }
 
         return consumer;
@@ -576,8 +579,8 @@ public class PulsarSpace {
             throw new RuntimeException("Reader:: Invalid value for Reader start message position!");
         }
 
-        String encodedStr = PulsarActivityUtil.encode(topicName, readerName, startMsgPosStr);
-        Reader<?> reader = readers.get(encodedStr);
+        String readerCacheKey = buildCacheKey(topicName, readerName, startMsgPosStr);
+        Reader<?> reader = readers.get(readerCacheKey);
 
         if (reader == null) {
             PulsarClient pulsarClient = getPulsarClient();
@@ -614,7 +617,7 @@ public class PulsarSpace {
                 throw new RuntimeException("Unable to create a Pulsar reader!");
             }
 
-            readers.put(encodedStr, reader);
+            readers.put(readerCacheKey, reader);
         }
 
         return reader;
diff --git a/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/util/PulsarActivityUtil.java b/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/util/PulsarActivityUtil.java
index c12fb2ff2..5f82d4f76 100644
--- a/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/util/PulsarActivityUtil.java
+++ b/driver-pulsar/src/main/java/io/nosqlbench/driver/pulsar/util/PulsarActivityUtil.java
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
 import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Base64;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
@@ -403,18 +402,5 @@ public class PulsarActivityUtil {
 
         return schema;
     }
-
-    public static String encode(String... strings) {
-        StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
-        for (String str : strings) {
-            if (!StringUtils.isBlank(str))
-                stringBuilder.append(str).append("::");
-        }
-
-        String concatenatedStr =
-            StringUtils.substringBeforeLast(stringBuilder.toString(), "::");
-
-        return Base64.getEncoder().encodeToString(concatenatedStr.getBytes());
-    }
 }