diff --git a/activemq-mqtt/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/mqtt/MQTTProtocolConverter.java b/activemq-mqtt/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/mqtt/MQTTProtocolConverter.java
index 3e645561e6..cc51ce7a89 100644
--- a/activemq-mqtt/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/mqtt/MQTTProtocolConverter.java
+++ b/activemq-mqtt/src/main/java/org/apache/activemq/transport/mqtt/MQTTProtocolConverter.java
@@ -112,9 +112,9 @@ public class MQTTProtocolConverter {
 
     private final ConcurrentHashMap<Integer, ResponseHandler> resposeHandlers = new ConcurrentHashMap<Integer, ResponseHandler>();
     private final ConcurrentHashMap<ConsumerId, MQTTSubscription> subscriptionsByConsumerId = new ConcurrentHashMap<ConsumerId, MQTTSubscription>();
-    private final ConcurrentHashMap<UTF8Buffer, MQTTSubscription> mqttSubscriptionByTopic = new ConcurrentHashMap<UTF8Buffer, MQTTSubscription>();
-    private final Map<UTF8Buffer, ActiveMQTopic> activeMQTopicMap = new LRUCache<UTF8Buffer, ActiveMQTopic>(DEFAULT_CACHE_SIZE);
-    private final Map<Destination, UTF8Buffer> mqttTopicMap = new LRUCache<Destination, UTF8Buffer>(DEFAULT_CACHE_SIZE);
+    private final ConcurrentHashMap<String, MQTTSubscription> mqttSubscriptionByTopic = new ConcurrentHashMap<String, MQTTSubscription>();
+    private final Map<String, ActiveMQTopic> activeMQTopicMap = new LRUCache<String, ActiveMQTopic>(DEFAULT_CACHE_SIZE);
+    private final Map<Destination, String> mqttTopicMap = new LRUCache<Destination, String>(DEFAULT_CACHE_SIZE);
     private final Set<String> restoredSubs = Collections.synchronizedSet(new HashSet<String>());
 
     private final Map<Short, MessageAck> consumerAcks = new LRUCache<Short, MessageAck>(DEFAULT_CACHE_SIZE);
@@ -413,9 +413,9 @@ public class MQTTProtocolConverter {
 
     byte onSubscribe(final Topic topic) throws MQTTProtocolException {
 
-        final UTF8Buffer topicName = topic.name();
+        final String topicName = topic.name().toString();
         final QoS topicQoS = topic.qos();
-        ActiveMQDestination destination = new ActiveMQTopic(convertMQTTToActiveMQ(topicName.toString()));
+        ActiveMQDestination destination = new ActiveMQTopic(convertMQTTToActiveMQ(topicName));
 
         if( mqttSubscriptionByTopic.containsKey(topicName)) {
             final MQTTSubscription mqttSubscription = mqttSubscriptionByTopic.get(topicName);
@@ -439,7 +439,7 @@ public class MQTTProtocolConverter {
         consumerInfo.setDispatchAsync(true);
         // create durable subscriptions only when cleansession is false
         if ( !connect.cleanSession() && connect.clientId() != null && topicQoS.ordinal() >= QoS.AT_LEAST_ONCE.ordinal() ) {
-            consumerInfo.setSubscriptionName(topicQoS + ":" + topicName.toString());
+            consumerInfo.setSubscriptionName(topicQoS + ":" + topicName);
         }
         MQTTSubscription mqttSubscription = new MQTTSubscription(this, topicQoS, consumerInfo);
 
@@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ public class MQTTProtocolConverter {
         return qos[0];
     }
 
-    private void resendRetainedMessages(UTF8Buffer topicName, ActiveMQDestination destination,
+    private void resendRetainedMessages(String topicName, ActiveMQDestination destination,
                                         MQTTSubscription mqttSubscription) throws MQTTProtocolException {
         // check whether the Topic has been recovered in restoreDurableSubs
         // mark subscription available for recovery for duplicate subscription
@@ -524,7 +524,7 @@ public class MQTTProtocolConverter {
         UTF8Buffer[] topics = command.topics();
         if (topics != null) {
             for (UTF8Buffer topic : topics) {
-                onUnSubscribe(topic);
+                onUnSubscribe(topic.toString());
             }
         }
         UNSUBACK ack = new UNSUBACK();
@@ -532,7 +532,7 @@ public class MQTTProtocolConverter {
         sendToMQTT(ack.encode());
     }
 
-    void onUnSubscribe(UTF8Buffer topicName) {
+    void onUnSubscribe(String topicName) {
         MQTTSubscription subs = mqttSubscriptionByTopic.remove(topicName);
         if (subs != null) {
             ConsumerInfo info = subs.getConsumerInfo();
@@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ public class MQTTProtocolConverter {
             // check if the durable sub also needs to be removed
             if (subs.getConsumerInfo().getSubscriptionName() != null) {
                 // also remove it from restored durable subscriptions set
-                restoredSubs.remove(convertMQTTToActiveMQ(topicName.toString()));
+                restoredSubs.remove(convertMQTTToActiveMQ(topicName));
 
                 RemoveSubscriptionInfo rsi = new RemoveSubscriptionInfo();
                 rsi.setConnectionId(connectionId);
@@ -680,7 +680,7 @@ public class MQTTProtocolConverter {
             if (topic == null) {
                 String topicName = convertMQTTToActiveMQ(command.topicName().toString());
                 topic = new ActiveMQTopic(topicName);
-                activeMQTopicMap.put(command.topicName(), topic);
+                activeMQTopicMap.put(command.topicName().toString(), topic);
             }
         }
         msg.setJMSDestination(topic);
@@ -704,15 +704,15 @@ public class MQTTProtocolConverter {
             result.retain(true);
         }
 
-        UTF8Buffer topicName;
+        String topicName;
         synchronized (mqttTopicMap) {
             topicName = mqttTopicMap.get(message.getJMSDestination());
             if (topicName == null) {
-                topicName = new UTF8Buffer(convertActiveMQToMQTT(message.getDestination().getPhysicalName()));
+                topicName = convertActiveMQToMQTT(message.getDestination().getPhysicalName());
                 mqttTopicMap.put(message.getJMSDestination(), topicName);
             }
         }
-        result.topicName(topicName);
+        result.topicName(new UTF8Buffer(topicName));
 
         if (message.getDataStructureType() == ActiveMQTextMessage.DATA_STRUCTURE_TYPE) {
             ActiveMQTextMessage msg = (ActiveMQTextMessage) message.copy();
@@ -962,9 +962,10 @@ public class MQTTProtocolConverter {
     /**
      * set the default prefetch size when mapping the MQTT subscription to an ActiveMQ one
      * The default = 1
-     * @param activeMQSubscriptionPrefetch set the prefetch for the corresponding ActiveMQ subscription
+     *
+     * @param activeMQSubscriptionPrefetch
+     *        set the prefetch for the corresponding ActiveMQ subscription
      */
-
     public void setActiveMQSubscriptionPrefetch(int activeMQSubscriptionPrefetch) {
         this.activeMQSubscriptionPrefetch = activeMQSubscriptionPrefetch;
     }