diff --git a/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/controllers/MessageController.java b/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/controllers/MessageController.java
index 34e0194d5..04ebb689e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/controllers/MessageController.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/controllers/MessageController.java
@@ -138,12 +138,12 @@ public class MessageController {
   public void sendProvisioningMessage(@Auth                     Account source,
                                       @PathParam("destination") String destinationName,
                                       @Valid                    ProvisioningMessage message)
-      throws RateLimitExceededException, InvalidWebsocketAddressException
+      throws RateLimitExceededException, InvalidWebsocketAddressException, IOException
   {
     rateLimiters.getMessagesLimiter().validate(source.getNumber());
 
     pushSender.getWebSocketSender().sendProvisioningMessage(new ProvisioningAddress(destinationName),
-                                                            message.getBody());
+                                                            Base64.decode(message.getBody()));
   }
 
   private void sendLocalMessage(Account source,
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/push/WebsocketSender.java b/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/push/WebsocketSender.java
index d65f61122..4ea4f3e52 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/push/WebsocketSender.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/whispersystems/textsecuregcm/push/WebsocketSender.java
@@ -30,8 +30,6 @@ import org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.util.Constants;
 import org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.websocket.ProvisioningAddress;
 import org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.websocket.WebsocketAddress;
 
-import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
-
 import static com.codahale.metrics.MetricRegistry.name;
 import static org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.entities.MessageProtos.OutgoingMessageSignal;
 import static org.whispersystems.textsecuregcm.storage.PubSubProtos.PubSubMessage;
@@ -84,22 +82,18 @@ public class WebsocketSender {
     }
   }
 
-  public boolean sendProvisioningMessage(ProvisioningAddress address, String body) {
-    try {
-      PubSubMessage    pubSubMessage = PubSubMessage.newBuilder()
-                                                    .setType(PubSubMessage.Type.DELIVER)
-                                                    .setContent(ByteString.copyFrom(body, "UTF-8"))
-                                                    .build();
+  public boolean sendProvisioningMessage(ProvisioningAddress address, byte[] body) {
+    PubSubMessage    pubSubMessage = PubSubMessage.newBuilder()
+                                                  .setType(PubSubMessage.Type.DELIVER)
+                                                  .setContent(ByteString.copyFrom(body))
+                                                  .build();
 
-      if (pubSubManager.publish(address, pubSubMessage)) {
-        provisioningOnlineMeter.mark();
-        return true;
-      } else {
-        provisioningOfflineMeter.mark();
-        return false;
-      }
-    } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
-      throw new AssertionError(e);
+    if (pubSubManager.publish(address, pubSubMessage)) {
+      provisioningOnlineMeter.mark();
+      return true;
+    } else {
+      provisioningOfflineMeter.mark();
+      return false;
     }
   }
 }