diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index f21aa6b993..44d6cdf51b 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -219,8 +219,6 @@ github.com/confluentinc/ccloud-sdk-go-v2/flink v0.9.0 h1:QqtIFEB5E3CIyGMJd7NQBEt
 github.com/confluentinc/ccloud-sdk-go-v2/flink v0.9.0/go.mod h1:GPj4sfR85OyiFQUMNEq1DtPOjYVAuE222Z6Mcapwa48=
 github.com/confluentinc/ccloud-sdk-go-v2/flink-artifact v0.1.0 h1:2QuFhvrfU4AdxyfWWPFY0fqEg8p8wmKFfC6N+35pxHg=
 github.com/confluentinc/ccloud-sdk-go-v2/flink-artifact v0.1.0/go.mod h1:cl7LEL6bFgiXQ+8sEZvo3BrYZxDOvGkx4jV7eX1ssN4=
-github.com/confluentinc/ccloud-sdk-go-v2/flink-gateway v0.12.0 h1:fra7uBCCtYkUFtHb6ununxMWqYuVonG52t1mV9o7qRE=
-github.com/confluentinc/ccloud-sdk-go-v2/flink-gateway v0.12.0/go.mod h1:cJ6erfVlWSyz6L+2dR46cF2+s5I2r+pTNrPm2fNbcqU=
 github.com/confluentinc/ccloud-sdk-go-v2/flink-gateway v0.17.0 h1:8Y1uXjolI2d5mawcfLn4OfJ81WRMQpjMFWdBm3dLdrk=
 github.com/confluentinc/ccloud-sdk-go-v2/flink-gateway v0.17.0/go.mod h1:cJ6erfVlWSyz6L+2dR46cF2+s5I2r+pTNrPm2fNbcqU=
 github.com/confluentinc/ccloud-sdk-go-v2/iam v0.11.0 h1:ZUAow4L6De1FwYoiwvEodm4lvxc+46wNW+IEAb7K9VU=
diff --git a/internal/asyncapi/command_export.go b/internal/asyncapi/command_export.go
index 32c0a66b5e..a8caa65a3c 100644
--- a/internal/asyncapi/command_export.go
+++ b/internal/asyncapi/command_export.go
@@ -60,8 +60,6 @@ type flags struct {
 	topics          []string
 }
 
-// messageOffset is 5, as the schema ID is stored at the [1:5] bytes of a message as meta info (when valid)
-const messageOffset = 5
 const protobufErrorMessage = "protobuf is not supported"
 
 func (c *command) newExportCommand() *cobra.Command {
@@ -292,8 +290,6 @@ func (c *command) getMessageExamples(consumer *ckgo.Consumer, topicName, content
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		// Message body is encoded after 5 bytes of meta information.
-		value = value[messageOffset:]
 		if err := deserializationProvider.LoadSchema(schemaPath, referencePathMap); err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
diff --git a/internal/kafka/command_topic_produce.go b/internal/kafka/command_topic_produce.go
index 76abd4f3e6..f454e9a6d5 100644
--- a/internal/kafka/command_topic_produce.go
+++ b/internal/kafka/command_topic_produce.go
@@ -323,8 +323,8 @@ func (c *command) produceOnPrem(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	// Initialize the value serializer with the same SR endpoint during registration
 	// The associated schema ID is also required to initialize the serializer
 	var valueSchemaId = -1
-	if len(valueMetaInfo) >= 5 {
-		valueSchemaId = int(binary.BigEndian.Uint32(valueMetaInfo[1:5]))
+	if len(valueMetaInfo) >= messageOffset {
+		valueSchemaId = int(binary.BigEndian.Uint32(valueMetaInfo[1:messageOffset]))
 	}
 	if err := valueSerializer.InitSerializer(srEndpoint, srClusterId, "value", srApiKey, srApiSecret, token, valueSchemaId); err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -485,7 +485,7 @@ func getProduceMessage(cmd *cobra.Command, keyMetaInfo, valueMetaInfo []byte, to
 	return message, nil
 }
 
-func serializeMessage(keyMetaInfo, valueMetaInfo []byte, topic, data, delimiter string, parseKey bool, keySerializer, valueSerializer serdes.SerializationProvider) ([]byte, []byte, error) {
+func serializeMessage(_, _ []byte, topic, data, delimiter string, parseKey bool, keySerializer, valueSerializer serdes.SerializationProvider) ([]byte, []byte, error) {
 	var serializedKey []byte
 	val := data
 	if parseKey {
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ func serializeMessage(keyMetaInfo, valueMetaInfo []byte, topic, data, delimiter
 		return nil, nil, err
 	}
 
-	return append(keyMetaInfo, serializedKey...), append(valueMetaInfo, serializedValue...), nil
+	return serializedKey, serializedValue, nil
 }
 
 func getKeyAndValue(schemaBased bool, data, delimiter string) (string, string, error) {
diff --git a/internal/kafka/confluent_kafka.go b/internal/kafka/confluent_kafka.go
index 05079662fd..3aaf3575b4 100644
--- a/internal/kafka/confluent_kafka.go
+++ b/internal/kafka/confluent_kafka.go
@@ -209,7 +209,6 @@ func consumeMessage(message *ckgo.Message, h *GroupHandler) error {
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			message.Key = message.Key[messageOffset:]
 			if err := keyDeserializer.LoadSchema(schemaPath, referencePathMap); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
@@ -243,8 +242,6 @@ func consumeMessage(message *ckgo.Message, h *GroupHandler) error {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		// Message body is encoded after 5 bytes of meta information.
-		message.Value = message.Value[messageOffset:]
 		if err := valueDeserializer.LoadSchema(schemaPath, referencePathMap); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}