diff --git a/sdks/go/pkg/beam/io/pubsubio/pubsubio.go b/sdks/go/pkg/beam/io/pubsubio/pubsubio.go
index 88b7395f44eb..bcf20e89c893 100644
--- a/sdks/go/pkg/beam/io/pubsubio/pubsubio.go
+++ b/sdks/go/pkg/beam/io/pubsubio/pubsubio.go
@@ -13,11 +13,16 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
-// Package pubsubio provides access to PubSub on Dataflow streaming.
-// Experimental.
+// Package pubsubio provides access to Pub/Sub on Dataflow streaming.
+//
+// This implementation only functions on the Dataflow runner.
+//
+// See https://cloud.google.com/dataflow/docs/concepts/streaming-with-cloud-pubsub
+// for details on using Pub/Sub with Dataflow.
 package pubsubio
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 
 	"github.com/apache/beam/sdks/v2/go/pkg/beam"
@@ -25,6 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/apache/beam/sdks/v2/go/pkg/beam/core/util/protox"
 	"github.com/apache/beam/sdks/v2/go/pkg/beam/core/util/reflectx"
 	pipepb "github.com/apache/beam/sdks/v2/go/pkg/beam/model/pipeline_v1"
+	"github.com/apache/beam/sdks/v2/go/pkg/beam/register"
 	"github.com/apache/beam/sdks/v2/go/pkg/beam/util/pubsubx"
 	pb "google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/pubsub/v1"
 	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
@@ -36,8 +42,12 @@ var (
 )
 
 func init() {
-	beam.RegisterType(reflect.TypeOf((*pb.PubsubMessage)(nil)).Elem())
-	beam.RegisterFunction(unmarshalMessageFn)
+	register.Function2x1(unmarshalMessageFn)
+	register.Function2x1(marshalMessageFn)
+	register.Function2x0(wrapInMessage)
+	register.Function2x0(wrapInMessage)
+	register.Emitter1[[]byte]()
+	register.Emitter1[*pb.PubsubMessage]()
 }
 
 // ReadOptions represents options for reading from PubSub.
@@ -73,15 +83,38 @@ func Read(s beam.Scope, project, topic string, opts *ReadOptions) beam.PCollecti
 	return out[0]
 }
 
-func unmarshalMessageFn(raw []byte) (*pb.PubsubMessage, error) {
+func unmarshalMessageFn(raw []byte, emit func(*pb.PubsubMessage)) error {
 	var msg pb.PubsubMessage
 	if err := proto.Unmarshal(raw, &msg); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+		return err
 	}
-	return &msg, nil
+	emit(&msg)
+	return nil
+}
+
+func wrapInMessage(raw []byte, emit func(*pb.PubsubMessage)) {
+	emit(&pb.PubsubMessage{
+		Data: raw,
+	})
 }
 
-// Write writes PubSubMessages or bytes to the given pubsub topic.
+func marshalMessageFn(in *pb.PubsubMessage, emit func([]byte)) error {
+	out, err := proto.Marshal(in)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	emit(out)
+	return nil
+}
+
+var pubSubMessageT = reflect.TypeOf((*pb.PubsubMessage)(nil))
+
+// Write writes PubSubMessages or []bytes to the given pubsub topic.
+// Panics if the input pcollection type is not one of those two types.
+//
+// When given []bytes, they are first wrapped in PubSubMessages.
+//
+// Note: Doesn't function in batch pipelines.
 func Write(s beam.Scope, project, topic string, col beam.PCollection) {
 	s = s.Scope("pubsubio.Write")
 
@@ -90,8 +123,12 @@ func Write(s beam.Scope, project, topic string, col beam.PCollection) {
 	}
 
 	out := col
-	if col.Type().Type() != reflectx.ByteSlice {
-		out = beam.ParDo(s, proto.Marshal, col)
+	if col.Type().Type() == reflectx.ByteSlice {
+		out = beam.ParDo(s, wrapInMessage, col)
+	}
+	if out.Type().Type() != pubSubMessageT {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("pubsubio.Write only accepts PCollections of %v and %v, received %v", pubSubMessageT, reflectx.ByteSlice, col.Type().Type()))
 	}
-	beam.External(s, writeURN, protox.MustEncode(payload), []beam.PCollection{out}, nil, false)
+	marshaled := beam.ParDo(s, marshalMessageFn, out)
+	beam.External(s, writeURN, protox.MustEncode(payload), []beam.PCollection{marshaled}, nil, false)
 }