diff --git a/tests/test_plugin.py b/tests/test_plugin.py
index b98d4af..42e18a4 100644
--- a/tests/test_plugin.py
+++ b/tests/test_plugin.py
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 import json
 from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 
+import wagglemsg
+
 
 class TestPlugin(unittest.TestCase):
 
@@ -88,7 +90,8 @@ def test_upload_file(self):
             upload_path.write_bytes(data)
             
             pl.upload_file(upload_path)
-            scope, msg = pl.outgoing_queue.get_nowait()
+            scope, body = pl.outgoing_queue.get_nowait()
+            msg = wagglemsg.load(body)
             self.assertEqual(scope, "all")
             self.assertEqual(msg.name, "upload")
             self.assertIsNotNone(msg.timestamp)
@@ -96,6 +99,7 @@ def test_upload_file(self):
             self.assertIsNotNone(msg.meta)
             self.assertIn("filename", msg.meta)
 
+
 class TestUploader(unittest.TestCase):
     
     def test_upload_file(self):
diff --git a/waggle/plugin.py b/waggle/plugin.py
index 9ddc063..d86085c 100644
--- a/waggle/plugin.py
+++ b/waggle/plugin.py
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ def subscribe(self, *topics):
     def __publish(self, name, value, meta, timestamp, scope="all", timeout=None):
         msg = wagglemsg.Message(name=name, value=value, timestamp=timestamp, meta=meta)
         logger.debug("adding message to outgoing queue: %s", msg)
-        self.outgoing_queue.put((scope, msg), timeout=timeout)
+        self.outgoing_queue.put((scope, wagglemsg.dump(msg)), timeout=timeout)
     
     def publish(self, name, value, meta={}, timestamp=None, scope="all", timeout=None):
         if timestamp is None:
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ def process_subscribe_queue():
         def process_publish_queue():
             while self.running.is_set():
                 try:
-                    scope, msg = self.outgoing_queue.get_nowait()
+                    scope, body = self.outgoing_queue.get_nowait()
                 except Empty:
                     break
                 properties = pika.BasicProperties(
@@ -185,8 +185,9 @@ def process_publish_queue():
                     properties.app_id = self.config.app_id
                     # NOTE app_id is used by data service to validate and tag additional metadata provided by k3s scheduler.
 
-                body = wagglemsg.dump(msg)
-                logger.debug("publishing message to rabbitmq: %s", msg)
+                if logger.isEnabledFor(logging.DEBUG):
+                    logger.debug("publishing message to rabbitmq: %s", wagglemsg.load(body))
+
                 channel.basic_publish(
                     exchange="to-validator",
                     routing_key=scope,