diff --git a/lib/src/androidTest/java/com/cloudinary/android/PayloadTest.java b/lib/src/androidTest/java/com/cloudinary/android/PayloadTest.java
index 4944a65e..fd50524e 100644
--- a/lib/src/androidTest/java/com/cloudinary/android/PayloadTest.java
+++ b/lib/src/androidTest/java/com/cloudinary/android/PayloadTest.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
 
 import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 
 import static junit.framework.Assert.assertEquals;
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ public static void setup() throws IOException {
     @Test
     public void testFilePayload() throws PayloadNotFoundException {
         FilePayload filePayload = new FilePayload(assetFile.getAbsolutePath());
-        verifyLengthAndRecreation(filePayload, 3381);
+        verifyLengthAndRecreation(filePayload, assetFile.length());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -45,9 +46,20 @@ public void testUriPayload() throws PayloadNotFoundException {
     }
 
     @Test
-    public void testBytesPayload() throws PayloadNotFoundException {
-        ByteArrayPayload byteArrayPayload = new ByteArrayPayload(new byte[]{0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9});
-        verifyLengthAndRecreation(byteArrayPayload, 10);
+    public void testBytesPayload() throws PayloadNotFoundException, IOException {
+        FileInputStream fileInputStream = null;
+        try {
+            byte[] buffer = new byte[(int) assetFile.length()];
+            fileInputStream = new FileInputStream(assetFile);
+            fileInputStream.read(buffer);
+            fileInputStream.close();
+            ByteArrayPayload byteArrayPayload = new ByteArrayPayload(buffer);
+            verifyLengthAndRecreation(byteArrayPayload, assetFile.length());
+        } finally {
+            if (fileInputStream != null) {
+                fileInputStream.close();
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -56,7 +68,7 @@ public void testResourcePayload() throws PayloadNotFoundException {
         verifyLengthAndRecreation(payload, 3381);
     }
 
-    private void verifyLengthAndRecreation(Payload payload, int expectedLength) throws PayloadNotFoundException {
+    private void verifyLengthAndRecreation(Payload payload, long expectedLength) throws PayloadNotFoundException {
         assertEquals(expectedLength, payload.getLength(InstrumentationRegistry.getContext()));
 
         String asUri = payload.toUri();
diff --git a/lib/src/main/java/com/cloudinary/android/payload/ByteArrayPayload.java b/lib/src/main/java/com/cloudinary/android/payload/ByteArrayPayload.java
index 4108394d..18062d2f 100755
--- a/lib/src/main/java/com/cloudinary/android/payload/ByteArrayPayload.java
+++ b/lib/src/main/java/com/cloudinary/android/payload/ByteArrayPayload.java
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
 import android.support.annotation.NonNull;
 import android.util.Base64;
 
+import com.cloudinary.android.Logger;
+
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 
 /**
@@ -11,22 +14,38 @@
  */
 public class ByteArrayPayload extends Payload<byte[]> {
 
+    public static final String ENCODING_CHARSET = "UTF8";
     static final String URI_KEY = "bytes";
+    private static final String TAG = ByteArrayPayload.class.getSimpleName();
 
     public ByteArrayPayload(byte[] data) {
         super(data);
     }
 
-    public ByteArrayPayload(){
+    public ByteArrayPayload() {
     }
 
     @NonNull
     private static String encode(byte[] data) {
-        return new String(Base64.encode(data, 0));
+        try {
+            return new String(Base64.encode(data, Base64.URL_SAFE), ENCODING_CHARSET);
+        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
+            Logger.e(TAG, "Cannot encode image bytes", e);
+
+            // this will be addressed later through the request's flows and callbacks
+            return null;
+        }
     }
 
-    private static byte[] decode(String encoded){
-        return Base64.decode(encoded, 0);
+    private static byte[] decode(String encoded) {
+        try {
+            return Base64.decode(encoded.getBytes(ENCODING_CHARSET), Base64.URL_SAFE);
+        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException e) {
+            Logger.e(TAG, "Cannot decode image bytes", e);
+
+            // this will be addressed later through the request's flows and callbacks
+            return null;
+        }
     }
 
     @Override