diff --git a/apis/chef/src/main/java/org/jclouds/chef/binders/BindIsCompletedToJsonPayload.java b/apis/chef/src/main/java/org/jclouds/chef/binders/BindIsCompletedToJsonPayload.java
index 53d87d060c..5bb1b60c12 100644
--- a/apis/chef/src/main/java/org/jclouds/chef/binders/BindIsCompletedToJsonPayload.java
+++ b/apis/chef/src/main/java/org/jclouds/chef/binders/BindIsCompletedToJsonPayload.java
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ public class BindIsCompletedToJsonPayload extends BindToStringPayload {
 
    @Override
    public <R extends HttpRequest> R bindToRequest(R request, Object payload ) {
-      super.bindToRequest(request, String.format("{\"is_completed\":\"%s\"}", payload));
+      super.bindToRequest(request, String.format("{\"is_completed\":%s}", payload));
       request.getPayload().getContentMetadata().setContentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON);
       return request;
    }
diff --git a/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/ChefAsyncClientTest.java b/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/ChefAsyncClientTest.java
index eb94a16937..beae7a0825 100644
--- a/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/ChefAsyncClientTest.java
+++ b/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/ChefAsyncClientTest.java
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ public class ChefAsyncClientTest extends BaseAsyncClientTest<ChefAsyncClient> {
       assertRequestLineEquals(httpRequest,
             "PUT http://localhost:4000/sandboxes/0189e76ccc476701d6b374e5a1a27347 HTTP/1.1");
       assertNonPayloadHeadersEqual(httpRequest, "Accept: application/json\nX-Chef-Version: " + ChefAsyncClient.VERSION + "-test\n");
-      assertPayloadEquals(httpRequest, "{\"is_completed\":\"true\"}", "application/json", false);
+      assertPayloadEquals(httpRequest, "{\"is_completed\":true}", "application/json", false);
 
       assertResponseParserClassEquals(method, httpRequest, ParseJson.class);
       assertSaxResponseParserClassEquals(method, null);
diff --git a/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/internal/BaseChefClientLiveTest.java b/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/internal/BaseChefClientLiveTest.java
index 6655660078..8819fd9ba1 100644
--- a/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/internal/BaseChefClientLiveTest.java
+++ b/apis/chef/src/test/java/org/jclouds/chef/internal/BaseChefClientLiveTest.java
@@ -130,11 +130,11 @@ public abstract class BaseChefClientLiveTest<C extends Context> extends BaseChef
       }
 
       // create a new cookbook
-      CookbookVersion cookbook = new CookbookVersion("test3", "0.0.0");
+      CookbookVersion cookbook = new CookbookVersion(PREFIX, "0.0.0");
       cookbook.getRootFiles().add(new Resource(content));
 
       // upload the cookbook to the remote server
-      chefClient.updateCookbook("test3", "0.0.0", cookbook);
+      chefClient.updateCookbook(PREFIX, "0.0.0", cookbook);
    }
 
    @Test(dependsOnMethods = "testCreateClient")
@@ -168,22 +168,13 @@ public abstract class BaseChefClientLiveTest<C extends Context> extends BaseChef
    
    @Test(dependsOnMethods = "testCreateNewCookbook")
    public void testUpdateCookbook() throws Exception {
-      for (String cookbook : chefClient.listCookbooks())
-         for (String version : chefClient.getVersionsOfCookbook(cookbook)) {
-            CookbookVersion cook = chefClient.getCookbook(cookbook, version);
-            chefClient.updateCookbook(cookbook, version, cook);
-         }
+      CookbookVersion cookbook = chefClient.getCookbook(PREFIX, "0.0.0");
+      assertNotNull(chefClient.updateCookbook(PREFIX, "0.0.0", cookbook));
    }
 
-   @Test(dependsOnMethods = {"testCreateNewCookbook", "testUpdateCookbook"}, enabled = false)
-   public void testCreateCookbook() throws Exception {
-      for (String cookbook : chefClient.listCookbooks())
-         for (String version : chefClient.getVersionsOfCookbook(cookbook)) {
-            CookbookVersion cook = chefClient.getCookbook(cookbook, version);
-            chefClient.deleteCookbook(cookbook, version);
-            assert chefClient.getCookbook(cookbook, version) == null : cookbook + version;
-            chefClient.updateCookbook(cookbook, version, cook);
-         }
+   @Test(dependsOnMethods = {"testCreateNewCookbook", "testUpdateCookbook"})
+   public void testDeleteCookbook() throws Exception {
+      assertNotNull(chefClient.deleteCookbook(PREFIX, "0.0.0"));
    }
 
    @Test(expectedExceptions = AuthorizationException.class)