diff --git a/src/main/scala-2/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/Parser.scala b/src/main/scala-2/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/Parser.scala
index ec24002..903ecc9 100644
--- a/src/main/scala-2/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/Parser.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala-2/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/Parser.scala
@@ -12,10 +12,13 @@
  */
 package com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk.decode
 
+import cats.implicits._
 import shapeless._
 import shapeless.ops.record._
 import shapeless.ops.hlist._
 import cats.data.{NonEmptyList, Validated}
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+import scala.collection.mutable.ListBuffer
 import com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk.ParsingError.{FieldNumberMismatch, NotTSV, RowDecodingError}
 
 private[scalasdk] trait Parser[A] extends TSVParser[A] {
@@ -42,10 +45,37 @@ private[scalasdk] trait Parser[A] extends TSVParser[A] {
       decoded.map(decodedValue => generic.from(decodedValue))
     }
   }
+
+  def parseBytes(row: ByteBuffer): DecodeResult[A] = {
+    val values = Parser.splitBuffer(row)
+    if (values.length == 1)
+      Validated.Invalid(NotTSV)
+    else if (values.length != expectedNumFields)
+      Validated.Invalid(FieldNumberMismatch(values.length))
+    else {
+      val decoded = decoder.decodeBytes(values.result()).leftMap(e => RowDecodingError(e))
+      decoded.map(decodedValue => generic.from(decodedValue))
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 object Parser {
 
+  private val tab: Byte = '\t'.toByte
+
+  private def splitBuffer(row: ByteBuffer): ListBuffer[ByteBuffer] = {
+    var current = row.duplicate
+    val builder = ListBuffer(current)
+    (row.position() until row.limit()).foreach { i =>
+      if (row.get(i) === tab) {
+        current.limit(i)
+        current = row.duplicate.position(i + 1)
+        builder += current
+      }
+    }
+    builder
+  }
+
   private[scalasdk] sealed trait DeriveParser[A] {
 
     def knownKeys[R <: HList, K <: HList, L <: HList](
diff --git a/src/main/scala-2/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoderCompanion.scala b/src/main/scala-2/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoderCompanion.scala
index 54e3a9d..7234694 100644
--- a/src/main/scala-2/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoderCompanion.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala-2/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoderCompanion.scala
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import shapeless._
 import cats.syntax.validated._
 import cats.syntax.either._
 import cats.syntax.apply._
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
 import com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk.ParsingError.RowDecodingErrorInfo.UnhandledRowDecodingError
 
 private[scalasdk] trait RowDecoderCompanion {
@@ -44,6 +45,21 @@ private[scalasdk] trait RowDecoderCompanion {
       case Nil => UnhandledRowDecodingError("Not enough values, format is invalid").invalidNel
     }
 
+  /** Parse TSV row into HList */
+  private def parseBytes[H: ValueDecoder, T <: HList](
+    key: Key,
+    tailDecoder: RowDecoder[T],
+    maxLength: Option[Int],
+    row: List[ByteBuffer]
+  ): RowDecodeResult[H :: T] =
+    row match {
+      case h :: t =>
+        val hv: RowDecodeResult[H] = ValueDecoder[H].parseBytes(key, h, maxLength).toValidatedNel
+        val tv: RowDecodeResult[T] = tailDecoder.decodeBytes(t)
+        (hv, tv).mapN(_ :: _)
+      case Nil => UnhandledRowDecodingError("Not enough values, format is invalid").invalidNel
+    }
+
   implicit def hnilFromRow: DeriveRowDecoder[HNil] =
     new DeriveRowDecoder[HNil] {
       def get(knownKeys: List[Key], maxLengths: Map[String, Int]): RowDecoder[HNil] =
@@ -55,6 +71,14 @@ private[scalasdk] trait RowDecoderCompanion {
               case _ =>
                 UnhandledRowDecodingError("Not enough values, format is invalid").invalidNel
             }
+
+          def decodeBytes(row: List[ByteBuffer]): RowDecodeResult[HNil] =
+            row match {
+              case Nil =>
+                HNil.validNel
+              case _ =>
+                UnhandledRowDecodingError("Not enough values, format is invalid").invalidNel
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -67,6 +91,7 @@ private[scalasdk] trait RowDecoderCompanion {
             val maxLength = maxLengths.get(key.name)
             new RowDecoder[H :: T] {
               def apply(row: List[String]): RowDecodeResult[H :: T] = parse(key, tailDecoder, maxLength, row)
+              def decodeBytes(row: List[ByteBuffer]): RowDecodeResult[H :: T] = parseBytes(key, tailDecoder, maxLength, row)
             }
           case Nil =>
             // Shapeless type checking makes this impossible
diff --git a/src/main/scala-3/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/Parser.scala b/src/main/scala-3/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/Parser.scala
index 2f2108f..c64e58c 100644
--- a/src/main/scala-3/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/Parser.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala-3/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/Parser.scala
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@
  */
 package com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk.decode
 
+import cats.implicits._
 import cats.data.{NonEmptyList, Validated}
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+import scala.collection.mutable.ListBuffer
 import com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk.ParsingError.{FieldNumberMismatch, NotTSV, RowDecodingError}
 import scala.deriving._
 import scala.compiletime._
@@ -30,10 +33,32 @@ private[scalasdk] trait Parser[A] extends TSVParser[A] {
     else if (values.length != expectedNumFields) Validated.Invalid(FieldNumberMismatch(values.length))
     else decoder(values.toList).leftMap(e => RowDecodingError(e))
   }
+
+  def parseBytes(row: ByteBuffer): DecodeResult[A] = {
+    val values = Parser.splitBuffer(row)
+    if (values.length == 1) Validated.Invalid(NotTSV)
+    else if (values.length != expectedNumFields) Validated.Invalid(FieldNumberMismatch(values.length))
+    else decoder.decodeBytes(values.result()).leftMap(e => RowDecodingError(e))
+  }
 }
 
 object Parser {
 
+  private val tab: Byte = '\t'.toByte
+
+  private def splitBuffer(row: ByteBuffer): ListBuffer[ByteBuffer] = {
+    var current = row.duplicate
+    val builder = ListBuffer(current)
+    (row.position() until row.limit()).foreach { i =>
+      if (row.get(i) === tab) {
+        current.limit(i)
+        current = row.duplicate.position(i + 1)
+        builder += current
+      }
+    }
+    builder
+  }
+
   private[scalasdk] sealed trait DeriveParser[A] {
     inline def knownKeys(implicit mirror: Mirror.ProductOf[A]): List[String] =
       constValueTuple[mirror.MirroredElemLabels].toArray.map(_.toString).toList
diff --git a/src/main/scala-3/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoderCompanion.scala b/src/main/scala-3/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoderCompanion.scala
index 6817c10..edd31b3 100644
--- a/src/main/scala-3/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoderCompanion.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala-3/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoderCompanion.scala
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import cats.syntax.validated._
 import cats.syntax.either._
 import cats.syntax.apply._
 import com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk.ParsingError.RowDecodingErrorInfo.UnhandledRowDecodingError
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
 import scala.deriving._
 import scala.compiletime._
 
@@ -52,6 +53,20 @@ private[scalasdk] trait RowDecoderCompanion {
       case Nil => UnhandledRowDecodingError("Not enough values, format is invalid").invalidNel
     }
 
+  private def parseBytes[H: ValueDecoder, T <: Tuple](
+    key: Key,
+    tailDecoder: RowDecoder[T],
+    maxLength: Option[Int],
+    row: List[ByteBuffer]
+  ): RowDecodeResult[H *: T] =
+    row match {
+      case h :: t =>
+        val hv: RowDecodeResult[H] = ValueDecoder[H].parseBytes(key, h, maxLength).toValidatedNel
+        val tv: RowDecodeResult[T] = tailDecoder.decodeBytes(t)
+        (hv, tv).mapN(_ *: _)
+      case Nil => UnhandledRowDecodingError("Not enough values, format is invalid").invalidNel
+    }
+
   implicit def hnilFromRow: DeriveRowDecoder[EmptyTuple] =
     new DeriveRowDecoder[EmptyTuple] {
       def get(knownKeys: List[Key], maxLengths: Map[String, Int]): RowDecoder[EmptyTuple] =
@@ -63,6 +78,14 @@ private[scalasdk] trait RowDecoderCompanion {
               case _ =>
                 UnhandledRowDecodingError("Not enough values, format is invalid").invalidNel
             }
+
+          def decodeBytes(row: List[ByteBuffer]): RowDecodeResult[EmptyTuple] =
+            row match {
+              case Nil =>
+                EmptyTuple.validNel
+              case _ =>
+                UnhandledRowDecodingError("Not enough values, format is invalid").invalidNel
+            }
         }
     }
 
@@ -75,6 +98,7 @@ private[scalasdk] trait RowDecoderCompanion {
             val maxLength = maxLengths.get(key.name)
             new RowDecoder[H *: T] {
               def apply(row: List[String]): RowDecodeResult[H *: T] = parse(key, tailDecoder, maxLength, row)
+              def decodeBytes(row: List[ByteBuffer]): RowDecodeResult[H *: T] = parseBytes(key, tailDecoder, maxLength, row)
             }
           case Nil =>
             // Shapeless type checking makes this impossible
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/Event.scala b/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/Event.scala
index e503d3f..0d23fb0 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/Event.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/Event.scala
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ package com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk
 import java.time.Instant
 import java.util.UUID
 import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
 
 // circe
 import io.circe.{Decoder, Encoder, Json, JsonObject}
@@ -280,6 +281,9 @@ object Event {
   def parse(line: String): DecodeResult[Event] =
     stdParser.parse(line)
 
+  def parseBytes(bytes: ByteBuffer): DecodeResult[Event] =
+    stdParser.parseBytes(bytes)
+
   private lazy val fieldNames: List[String] =
     Parser.deriveFor[Event].knownKeys
 
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoder.scala b/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoder.scala
index 88494ee..799a2ff 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoder.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/RowDecoder.scala
@@ -13,11 +13,15 @@
 package com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk
 package decode
 
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+
 private[scalasdk] trait RowDecoder[L] extends Serializable { self =>
   def apply(row: List[String]): RowDecodeResult[L]
+  def decodeBytes(row: List[ByteBuffer]): RowDecodeResult[L]
   def map[B](f: L => B): RowDecoder[B] =
     new RowDecoder[B] {
       def apply(row: List[String]): RowDecodeResult[B] = self.apply(row).map(f)
+      def decodeBytes(row: List[ByteBuffer]): RowDecodeResult[B] = self.decodeBytes(row).map(f)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/TSVParser.scala b/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/TSVParser.scala
index 61f3c56..e550bb0 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/TSVParser.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/TSVParser.scala
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@
  */
 package com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk.decode
 
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+
 /** Parser for a TSV-encoded string */
 trait TSVParser[A] extends Serializable {
+  def parseBytes(bytes: ByteBuffer): DecodeResult[A]
   def parse(row: String): DecodeResult[A]
 }
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/ValueDecoder.scala b/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/ValueDecoder.scala
index b8332bf..2018fea 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/ValueDecoder.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/decode/ValueDecoder.scala
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ import com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk.validate.FIELD_SIZES
 import java.time.Instant
 import java.time.format.DateTimeParseException
 import java.util.UUID
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets
 
 // cats
 import cats.syntax.either._
@@ -30,8 +32,8 @@ import com.snowplowanalytics.iglu.core.SelfDescribingData
 import com.snowplowanalytics.iglu.core.circe.implicits._
 
 // circe
-import io.circe.parser.{parse => parseJson}
-import io.circe.{Error, Json}
+import io.circe.jawn.JawnParser
+import io.circe.{Error, Json, ParsingFailure}
 
 // This library
 import com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk.Common.{ContextsCriterion, UnstructEventCriterion}
@@ -45,9 +47,19 @@ private[decode] trait ValueDecoder[A] {
     value: String,
     maxLength: Option[Int]
   ): DecodedValue[A]
+
+  def parseBytes(
+    key: Key,
+    value: ByteBuffer,
+    maxLength: Option[Int]
+  ): DecodedValue[A] =
+    parse(key, StandardCharsets.UTF_8.decode(value).toString, maxLength)
 }
 
 private[decode] object ValueDecoder {
+
+  private val parser: JawnParser = new JawnParser
+
   def apply[A](implicit readA: ValueDecoder[A]): ValueDecoder[A] = readA
 
   def fromFunc[A](f: ((Key, String, Option[Int])) => DecodedValue[A]): ValueDecoder[A] =
@@ -159,41 +171,85 @@ private[decode] object ValueDecoder {
         }
     }
 
-  implicit final val unstructuredJson: ValueDecoder[UnstructEvent] =
-    fromFunc[UnstructEvent] {
-      case (key, value, _) =>
-        def asLeft(error: Error): RowDecodingErrorInfo = InvalidValue(key, value, error.show)
+  implicit final val unstructuredJson: ValueDecoder[UnstructEvent] = {
+    def fromJsonParseResult(
+      result: Either[ParsingFailure, Json],
+      key: Key,
+      originalValue: => String
+    ): DecodedValue[UnstructEvent] = {
+      def asLeft(error: Error): RowDecodingErrorInfo = InvalidValue(key, originalValue, error.show)
+      result
+        .flatMap(_.as[SelfDescribingData[Json]])
+        .leftMap(asLeft) match {
+        case Right(SelfDescribingData(schema, data)) if UnstructEventCriterion.matches(schema) =>
+          data.as[SelfDescribingData[Json]].leftMap(asLeft).map(_.some).map(UnstructEvent.apply)
+        case Right(SelfDescribingData(schema, _)) =>
+          InvalidValue(key, originalValue, s"Unknown payload: ${schema.toSchemaUri}").asLeft[UnstructEvent]
+        case Left(error) => error.asLeft[UnstructEvent]
+      }
+    }
+    new ValueDecoder[UnstructEvent] {
+      def parse(
+        key: Key,
+        value: String,
+        maxLength: Option[Int]
+      ): DecodedValue[UnstructEvent] =
         if (value.isEmpty)
           UnstructEvent(None).asRight[RowDecodingErrorInfo]
         else
-          parseJson(value)
-            .flatMap(_.as[SelfDescribingData[Json]])
-            .leftMap(asLeft) match {
-            case Right(SelfDescribingData(schema, data)) if UnstructEventCriterion.matches(schema) =>
-              data.as[SelfDescribingData[Json]].leftMap(asLeft).map(_.some).map(UnstructEvent.apply)
-            case Right(SelfDescribingData(schema, _)) =>
-              InvalidValue(key, value, s"Unknown payload: ${schema.toSchemaUri}").asLeft[UnstructEvent]
-            case Left(error) => error.asLeft[UnstructEvent]
-          }
+          fromJsonParseResult(parser.parse(value), key, value)
+
+      override def parseBytes(
+        key: Key,
+        value: ByteBuffer,
+        maxLength: Option[Int]
+      ): DecodedValue[UnstructEvent] =
+        if (!value.hasRemaining())
+          UnstructEvent(None).asRight[RowDecodingErrorInfo]
+        else
+          fromJsonParseResult(parser.parseByteBuffer(value), key, StandardCharsets.UTF_8.decode(value).toString)
     }
+  }
 
-  implicit final val contexts: ValueDecoder[Contexts] =
-    fromFunc[Contexts] {
-      case (key, value, _) =>
-        def asLeft(error: Error): RowDecodingErrorInfo = InvalidValue(key, value, error.show)
+  implicit final val contexts: ValueDecoder[Contexts] = {
+    def fromJsonParseResult(
+      result: Either[ParsingFailure, Json],
+      key: Key,
+      originalValue: => String
+    ): DecodedValue[Contexts] = {
+      def asLeft(error: Error): RowDecodingErrorInfo = InvalidValue(key, originalValue, error.show)
+      result
+        .flatMap(_.as[SelfDescribingData[Json]])
+        .leftMap(asLeft) match {
+        case Right(SelfDescribingData(schema, data)) if ContextsCriterion.matches(schema) =>
+          data.as[List[SelfDescribingData[Json]]].leftMap(asLeft).map(Contexts.apply)
+        case Right(SelfDescribingData(schema, _)) =>
+          InvalidValue(key, originalValue, s"Unknown payload: ${schema.toSchemaUri}").asLeft[Contexts]
+        case Left(error) => error.asLeft[Contexts]
+      }
+    }
+    new ValueDecoder[Contexts] {
+      def parse(
+        key: Key,
+        value: String,
+        maxLength: Option[Int]
+      ): DecodedValue[Contexts] =
         if (value.isEmpty)
-          Contexts(List()).asRight[RowDecodingErrorInfo]
+          Contexts(List.empty).asRight[RowDecodingErrorInfo]
         else
-          parseJson(value)
-            .flatMap(_.as[SelfDescribingData[Json]])
-            .leftMap(asLeft) match {
-            case Right(SelfDescribingData(schema, data)) if ContextsCriterion.matches(schema) =>
-              data.as[List[SelfDescribingData[Json]]].leftMap(asLeft).map(Contexts.apply)
-            case Right(SelfDescribingData(schema, _)) =>
-              InvalidValue(key, value, s"Unknown payload: ${schema.toSchemaUri}").asLeft[Contexts]
-            case Left(error) => error.asLeft[Contexts]
-          }
+          fromJsonParseResult(parser.parse(value), key, value)
+
+      override def parseBytes(
+        key: Key,
+        value: ByteBuffer,
+        maxLength: Option[Int]
+      ): DecodedValue[Contexts] =
+        if (!value.hasRemaining())
+          Contexts(List.empty).asRight[RowDecodingErrorInfo]
+        else
+          fromJsonParseResult(parser.parseByteBuffer(value), key, StandardCharsets.UTF_8.decode(value).toString)
     }
+  }
 
   /**
    * Converts a timestamp to an ISO-8601 format usable by Instant.parse()
diff --git a/src/test/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/EventSpec.scala b/src/test/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/EventSpec.scala
index c3b24c9..37d126c 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/EventSpec.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk/EventSpec.scala
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ package com.snowplowanalytics.snowplow.analytics.scalasdk
 // java
 import java.time.Instant
 import java.util.UUID
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets
 
 // cats
 import cats.data.Validated.{Invalid, Valid}
@@ -157,15 +159,22 @@ class EventSpec extends Specification with ScalaCheck {
       )
 
       val eventValues = input.unzip._2.mkString("\t")
+      val eventValuesBytes = ByteBuffer.wrap(eventValues.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))
 
       val event1 = Event.parse(eventValues)
       val event2 = Event.parser().parse(eventValues)
       val event3 = Event.parser(FIELD_SIZES).parse(eventValues)
+      val event4 = Event.parseBytes(eventValuesBytes)
+      val event5 = Event.parser().parseBytes(eventValuesBytes)
+      val event6 = Event.parser(FIELD_SIZES).parseBytes(eventValuesBytes)
 
       // Case class must be processed as expected, for all varieties of the parser
       event1 mustEqual Valid(expected)
       event2 mustEqual Valid(expected)
       event3 mustEqual Valid(expected)
+      event4 mustEqual Valid(expected)
+      event5 mustEqual Valid(expected)
+      event6 mustEqual Valid(expected)
 
       val eventJson = event1.getOrElse(throw new RuntimeException("Failed to parse event")).toJson(true)
 
@@ -363,10 +372,13 @@ class EventSpec extends Specification with ScalaCheck {
       val expected = baseExpected
 
       val eventValues = input.unzip._2.mkString("\t")
+      val eventValuesBytes = ByteBuffer.wrap(eventValues.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))
       val event = Event.parse(eventValues)
+      val event2 = Event.parseBytes(eventValuesBytes)
 
       // Case class must be processed as expected
       event mustEqual Valid(expected)
+      event2 mustEqual Valid(expected)
 
       val eventJson = event.getOrElse(throw new RuntimeException("Failed to parse event")).toJson(true)
 
@@ -604,10 +616,13 @@ class EventSpec extends Specification with ScalaCheck {
       )
 
       val eventValues = input.unzip._2.mkString("\t")
+      val eventValuesBytes = ByteBuffer.wrap(eventValues.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))
       val event = Event.parse(eventValues)
+      val event2 = Event.parseBytes(eventValuesBytes)
 
       // Case class must be processed as expected
       event mustEqual Valid(expected)
+      event2 mustEqual Valid(expected)
 
       val eventJson = event.getOrElse(throw new RuntimeException("Failed to parse event")).toJson(true)
 
@@ -866,7 +881,9 @@ class EventSpec extends Specification with ScalaCheck {
       }
 
       val eventValues = input.unzip._2.mkString("\t")
+      val eventValuesBytes = ByteBuffer.wrap(eventValues.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))
       val event = Event.parse(eventValues)
+      val event2 = Event.parseBytes(eventValuesBytes)
 
       // Case class must be correctly invalidated
       val res = RowDecodingError(
@@ -881,19 +898,27 @@ class EventSpec extends Specification with ScalaCheck {
         )
       )
       event mustEqual Invalid(res)
+      event2 mustEqual Invalid(res)
     }
 
     "fail if payload is not TSV" in {
-      val event = Event.parse("non tsv")
+      val str = "non tsv"
+      val bytes = ByteBuffer.wrap(str.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))
+      val event = Event.parse(str)
+      val event2 = Event.parseBytes(bytes)
       event mustEqual Invalid(NotTSV)
+      event2 mustEqual Invalid(NotTSV)
     }
 
     "fail if there are more fields than expected" in {
       val input = baseInput :+ "additional_field" -> "mock_value"
       val eventValues = input.unzip._2.mkString("\t")
+      val eventValuesBytes = ByteBuffer.wrap(eventValues.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))
       val event = Event.parse(eventValues)
+      val event2 = Event.parseBytes(eventValuesBytes)
 
       event mustEqual Invalid(FieldNumberMismatch(132))
+      event2 mustEqual Invalid(FieldNumberMismatch(132))
     }
 
     "fail if there are fewer fields than expected" in {
@@ -905,9 +930,12 @@ class EventSpec extends Specification with ScalaCheck {
       )
 
       val eventValues = input.unzip._2.mkString("\t")
+      val eventValuesBytes = ByteBuffer.wrap(eventValues.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8))
       val event = Event.parse(eventValues)
+      val event2 = Event.parseBytes(eventValuesBytes)
 
       event mustEqual Invalid(FieldNumberMismatch(4))
+      event2 mustEqual Invalid(FieldNumberMismatch(4))
     }
 
     "successfully decode encoded event which has no contexts or unstruct_event" in {