diff --git a/logprep/connector/confluent_kafka/input.py b/logprep/connector/confluent_kafka/input.py
index 8f548d134..813bbd00d 100644
--- a/logprep/connector/confluent_kafka/input.py
+++ b/logprep/connector/confluent_kafka/input.py
@@ -416,7 +416,11 @@ def _get_event(self, timeout: float) -> Union[Tuple[None, None], Tuple[dict, dic
         if raw_event is None:
             return None, None
         try:
-            event_dict = self._decoder.decode(raw_event)
+            event_dict = self._decoder.decode(raw_event.decode("utf-8"))
+        except UnicodeDecodeError as error:
+            raise CriticalInputParsingError(
+                self, "Input record value is not 'utf-8' encoded", str(raw_event)
+            ) from error
         except msgspec.DecodeError as error:
             raise CriticalInputParsingError(
                 self, "Input record value is not a valid json string", raw_event
diff --git a/tests/unit/connector/test_confluent_kafka_input.py b/tests/unit/connector/test_confluent_kafka_input.py
index 77fd85f0f..9e5effb4b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/connector/test_confluent_kafka_input.py
+++ b/tests/unit/connector/test_confluent_kafka_input.py
@@ -200,6 +200,34 @@ def test_get_raw_event_is_callable(self, _):  # pylint: disable=arguments-differ
         result = self.object._get_raw_event(0.001)
         assert result
 
+    @mock.patch("logprep.connector.confluent_kafka.input.Consumer")
+    def test_get_event_raises_exception_if_input_invalid_json(self, _):
+        mock_record = mock.MagicMock()
+        mock_record.error = mock.MagicMock()
+        mock_record.error.return_value = None
+        self.object._consumer.poll = mock.MagicMock(return_value=mock_record)
+        mock_record.value = mock.MagicMock()
+        mock_record.value.return_value = '{"invalid_json"}'.encode("utf8")
+        with pytest.raises(
+            CriticalInputParsingError,
+            match="Input record value is not a valid json string -> b'{\"invalid_json\"}'",
+        ):
+            self.object._get_event(0.001)
+
+    @mock.patch("logprep.connector.confluent_kafka.input.Consumer")
+    def test_get_event_raises_exception_if_input_not_utf(self, _):
+        mock_record = mock.MagicMock()
+        mock_record.error = mock.MagicMock()
+        mock_record.error.return_value = None
+        self.object._consumer.poll = mock.MagicMock(return_value=mock_record)
+        mock_record.value = mock.MagicMock()
+        mock_record.value.return_value = '{"not_utf-8": \xfc}'.encode("cp1252")
+        with pytest.raises(
+            CriticalInputParsingError,
+            match=r"Input record value is not \'utf-8\' encoded -> b\'\{\"not_utf-8\": \\xfc\}\'",
+        ):
+            self.object._get_event(0.001)
+
     def test_setup_raises_fatal_input_error_on_invalid_config(self):
         config = {
             "bootstrap.servers": "testinstance:9092",