diff --git a/mqtt/forwarder.go b/mqtt/forwarder.go
index 425e615d..b77ee5e1 100644
--- a/mqtt/forwarder.go
+++ b/mqtt/forwarder.go
@@ -43,15 +43,17 @@ func handle(ctx context.Context, pub messaging.Publisher, logger mflog.Logger) h
 		}
 		// Use concatenation instead of fmt.Sprintf for the
 		// sake of simplicity and performance.
-		topic := fmt.Sprintf("channels/%s/messages", msg.Channel)
+		topic := "channels/" + msg.Channel + "/messages"
 		if msg.Subtopic != "" {
-			topic = fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", topic, strings.ReplaceAll(msg.Subtopic, ".", "/"))
+			topic = topic + "/" + strings.ReplaceAll(msg.Subtopic, ".", "/")
 		}
+
 		go func() {
 			if err := pub.Publish(ctx, topic, msg); err != nil {
 				logger.Warn(fmt.Sprintf("Failed to forward message: %s", err))
 			}
 		}()
+
 		return nil
 	}
 }
diff --git a/pkg/messaging/mqtt/publisher.go b/pkg/messaging/mqtt/publisher.go
index 12445c41..1bb4c622 100644
--- a/pkg/messaging/mqtt/publisher.go
+++ b/pkg/messaging/mqtt/publisher.go
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 
 	mqtt "github.com/eclipse/paho.mqtt.golang"
 	"github.com/mainflux/mainflux/pkg/messaging"
-	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
 )
 
 var errPublishTimeout = errors.New("failed to publish due to timeout reached")
@@ -40,20 +39,18 @@ func (pub publisher) Publish(ctx context.Context, topic string, msg *messaging.M
 	if topic == "" {
 		return ErrEmptyTopic
 	}
-	data, err := proto.Marshal(msg)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	token := pub.client.Publish(topic, qos, false, data)
+
+	// Publish only the payload and not the whole message.
+	token := pub.client.Publish(topic, qos, false, msg.GetPayload())
 	if token.Error() != nil {
 		return token.Error()
 	}
-	ok := token.WaitTimeout(pub.timeout)
-	if !ok {
+
+	if ok := token.WaitTimeout(pub.timeout); !ok {
 		return errPublishTimeout
 	}
 
-	return token.Error()
+	return nil
 }
 
 func (pub publisher) Close() error {
diff --git a/pkg/messaging/mqtt/pubsub.go b/pkg/messaging/mqtt/pubsub.go
index 7a4b1ee1..4e14bbee 100644
--- a/pkg/messaging/mqtt/pubsub.go
+++ b/pkg/messaging/mqtt/pubsub.go
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ type pubsub struct {
 }
 
 // NewPubSub returns MQTT message publisher/subscriber.
-func NewPubSub(url, queue string, timeout time.Duration, logger mflog.Logger) (messaging.PubSub, error) {
+func NewPubSub(url, _ string, timeout time.Duration, logger mflog.Logger) (messaging.PubSub, error) {
 	client, err := newClient(url, "mqtt-publisher", timeout)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ func newClient(address, id string, timeout time.Duration) (mqtt.Client, error) {
 }
 
 func (ps *pubsub) mqttHandler(h messaging.MessageHandler) mqtt.MessageHandler {
-	return func(c mqtt.Client, m mqtt.Message) {
+	return func(_ mqtt.Client, m mqtt.Message) {
 		var msg messaging.Message
 		if err := proto.Unmarshal(m.Payload(), &msg); err != nil {
 			ps.logger.Warn(fmt.Sprintf("Failed to unmarshal received message: %s", err))
diff --git a/pkg/messaging/mqtt/pubsub_test.go b/pkg/messaging/mqtt/pubsub_test.go
index 27f7acae..c45488fd 100644
--- a/pkg/messaging/mqtt/pubsub_test.go
+++ b/pkg/messaging/mqtt/pubsub_test.go
@@ -111,7 +111,9 @@ func TestPublisher(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Nil(t, err, fmt.Sprintf("%s: failed to serialize protobuf error: %s\n", tc.desc, err))
 
 		receivedMsg := <-msgChan
-		assert.Equal(t, data, receivedMsg, fmt.Sprintf("%s: expected %+v got %+v\n", tc.desc, data, receivedMsg))
+		if tc.payload != nil {
+			assert.Equal(t, expectedMsg.GetPayload(), receivedMsg, fmt.Sprintf("%s: expected %+v got %+v\n", tc.desc, data, receivedMsg))
+		}
 	}
 }
 
@@ -271,9 +273,14 @@ func TestPubSub(t *testing.T) {
 				Subtopic:  subtopic,
 				Payload:   data,
 			}
+			data, err := proto.Marshal(&expectedMsg)
+			assert.Nil(t, err, fmt.Sprintf("%s: failed to serialize protobuf error: %s\n", tc.desc, err))
 
+			msg := messaging.Message{
+				Payload: data,
+			}
 			// Publish message, and then receive it on message channel.
-			err := pubsub.Publish(context.TODO(), topic, &expectedMsg)
+			err = pubsub.Publish(context.TODO(), topic, &msg)
 			assert.Nil(t, err, fmt.Sprintf("%s: got unexpected error: %s\n", tc.desc, err))
 
 			receivedMsg := <-msgChan
diff --git a/pkg/messaging/nats/pubsub.go b/pkg/messaging/nats/pubsub.go
index bf0f45e3..8cb09364 100644
--- a/pkg/messaging/nats/pubsub.go
+++ b/pkg/messaging/nats/pubsub.go
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ func (ps *pubsub) natsHandler(h messaging.MessageHandler) broker.MsgHandler {
 			ps.logger.Warn(fmt.Sprintf("Failed to unmarshal received message: %s", err))
 			return
 		}
+
 		if err := h.Handle(&msg); err != nil {
 			ps.logger.Warn(fmt.Sprintf("Failed to handle Mainflux message: %s", err))
 		}