diff --git a/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/deployment/ReactiveHttpProcessor.java b/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/deployment/ReactiveHttpProcessor.java
index 9a3eaff..caa2853 100644
--- a/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/deployment/ReactiveHttpProcessor.java
+++ b/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/deployment/ReactiveHttpProcessor.java
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ private void initSerializers(List<String> serializers, String className, Class<?
 
             try (MethodCreator init = factory.getMethodCreator("initAdditionalSerializers", void.class)) {
                 init.setModifiers(Modifier.PROTECTED);
-                MethodDescriptor addSerializer = MethodDescriptor.ofMethod(SerializerFactoryBase.class, "addSerializer",
+                MethodDescriptor addSerializer = MethodDescriptor.ofMethod(baseClass, "addSerializer",
                         void.class, String.class, type);
 
                 for (String serializerName : serializers) {
diff --git a/integration-tests/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/FirstLowerCaseDeserializer.java b/integration-tests/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/FirstLowerCaseDeserializer.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2863deb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/integration-tests/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/FirstLowerCaseDeserializer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package io.quarkus.reactivemessaging.http;
+
+import io.quarkus.reactivemessaging.http.runtime.serializers.Deserializer;
+import io.vertx.core.buffer.Buffer;
+
+public class FirstLowerCaseDeserializer implements Deserializer<String> {
+
+    @Override
+    public String deserialize(Buffer payload) {
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder(payload.toString());
+        if (sb.length() > 0) {
+            sb.setCharAt(0, Character.toLowerCase(sb.charAt(0)));
+        }
+        return sb.toString();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/integration-tests/src/main/resources/application.properties b/integration-tests/src/main/resources/application.properties
index d045abe..ec8f829 100644
--- a/integration-tests/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/integration-tests/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 mp.messaging.incoming.websocket-source.connector=quarkus-websocket
 mp.messaging.incoming.websocket-source.path=/my-websocket
+mp.messaging.incoming.websocket-source.deserializer=io.quarkus.reactivemessaging.http.FirstLowerCaseDeserializer
 
 mp.messaging.outgoing.websocket-sink.connector=quarkus-websocket
 mp.messaging.outgoing.websocket-sink.url=ws://localhost:${quarkus.http.test-port:8081}/my-websocket
@@ -8,6 +9,7 @@ mp.messaging.outgoing.websocket-sink.serializer=io.quarkus.reactivemessaging.htt
 mp.messaging.incoming.http-source.connector=quarkus-http
 mp.messaging.incoming.http-source.path=/my-http-resource
 mp.messaging.incoming.http-source.method=PUT
+mp.messaging.incoming.http-source.deserializer=io.quarkus.reactivemessaging.http.FirstLowerCaseDeserializer
 
 mp.messaging.outgoing.http-sink.connector=quarkus-http
 mp.messaging.outgoing.http-sink.method=PUT
diff --git a/integration-tests/src/test/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/ReactiveMessagingHttpTest.java b/integration-tests/src/test/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/ReactiveMessagingHttpTest.java
index fb631d4..060c1fb 100644
--- a/integration-tests/src/test/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/ReactiveMessagingHttpTest.java
+++ b/integration-tests/src/test/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/ReactiveMessagingHttpTest.java
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ public void shouldSendAndConsumeWebSocketAndUseCustomSerializer() {
 
         await()
                 .atMost(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
-                .until(() -> get("/websocket-helper").getBody().asString(), Predicate.isEqual("TEST-MESSAGE"));
+                .until(() -> get("/websocket-helper").getBody().asString(), Predicate.isEqual("tEST-MESSAGE"));
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ public void shouldSendAndConsumeHttpAndUseCustomSerializer() throws Exception {
 
         await()
                 .atMost(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS)
-                .until(() -> get("/http-helper").getBody().asString(), Predicate.isEqual("TEST-MESSAGE"));
+                .until(() -> get("/http-helper").getBody().asString(), Predicate.isEqual("tEST-MESSAGE"));
     }
 
     @Test
diff --git a/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/runtime/ReactiveHttpHandlerBean.java b/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/runtime/ReactiveHttpHandlerBean.java
index fbf1397..3106954 100644
--- a/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/runtime/ReactiveHttpHandlerBean.java
+++ b/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/runtime/ReactiveHttpHandlerBean.java
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@
 import io.quarkus.reactivemessaging.http.runtime.serializers.DeserializerFactoryBase;
 import io.smallrye.mutiny.Multi;
 import io.smallrye.mutiny.subscription.MultiEmitter;
-import io.vertx.core.buffer.Buffer;
 import io.vertx.core.http.HttpMethod;
 import io.vertx.ext.web.RoutingContext;
 
@@ -62,16 +61,16 @@ protected void handleRequest(RoutingContext event, MultiEmitter<? super HttpMess
                     "No consumer subscribed for messages sent to Reactive Messaging HTTP endpoint on path: " + path);
         } else if (guard.prepareToEmit()) {
             try {
-                HttpMessage<Buffer> message = new HttpMessage<>(event.getBody(), new IncomingHttpMetadata(event),
+                emitter.emit(new HttpMessage<>(
+                        deserializerFactory.getDeserializer(deserializerName).map(d -> d.deserialize(event.getBody()))
+                                .orElse(event.getBody()),
+                        new IncomingHttpMetadata(event),
                         () -> {
                             if (!event.response().ended()) {
                                 event.response().setStatusCode(202).end();
                             }
                         },
-                        error -> onUnexpectedError(event, error, "Failed to process message."));
-                deserializerFactory.getDeserializer(deserializerName)
-                        .ifPresent(d -> message.withPayload(d.deserialize(message.getPayload())));
-                emitter.emit(message);
+                        error -> onUnexpectedError(event, error, "Failed to process message.")));
             } catch (Exception any) {
                 guard.dequeue();
                 onUnexpectedError(event, any, "Emitting message failed");
diff --git a/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/runtime/serializers/DeserializerFactoryBase.java b/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/runtime/serializers/DeserializerFactoryBase.java
index 6f65cdb..99411ae 100644
--- a/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/runtime/serializers/DeserializerFactoryBase.java
+++ b/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/reactivemessaging/http/runtime/serializers/DeserializerFactoryBase.java
@@ -4,13 +4,10 @@
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Optional;
 
-import org.jboss.logging.Logger;
-
 /**
  * a base superclass for a SerializerFactory that is generated in build time
  */
 public abstract class DeserializerFactoryBase {
-    private static final Logger log = Logger.getLogger(DeserializerFactoryBase.class);
 
     private final Map<String, Deserializer<?>> deserializersByClassName = new HashMap<>();
 
@@ -35,7 +32,7 @@ public void addSerializer(String className, Deserializer<?> serializer) {
         deserializersByClassName.put(className, serializer);
     }
 
-    /**
+    /*
      * method that initializes additional serializers (used by user's config).
      * Implemented in the generated subclass
      */