diff --git a/spring-integration-mqtt/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/mqtt/outbound/Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler.java b/spring-integration-mqtt/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/mqtt/outbound/Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler.java
index ae643b1b9a3..012fe6d7585 100644
--- a/spring-integration-mqtt/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/mqtt/outbound/Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler.java
+++ b/spring-integration-mqtt/src/main/java/org/springframework/integration/mqtt/outbound/Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler.java
@@ -49,11 +49,14 @@
 
 /**
  * The {@link AbstractMqttMessageHandler} implementation for MQTT v5.
+ * <p>
+ * Payloads other than {@code byte[]} or {@link String} use the configured {@link MessageConverter}.
  *
  * @author Artem Bilan
  * @author Lucas Bowler
  * @author Artem Vozhdayenko
  * @author Glenn Renfro
+ * @author Deng Pan
  *
  * @since 5.5.5
  */
@@ -214,17 +217,28 @@ private String obtainTopicToPublish(Message<?> message) {
 	private MqttMessage buildMqttMessage(Message<?> message) {
 		Object payload = message.getPayload();
 		byte[] body;
-		if (payload instanceof byte[]) {
-			body = (byte[]) payload;
+		if (payload instanceof byte[] bytes) {
+			body = bytes;
 		}
-		else if (payload instanceof String) {
-			body = ((String) payload).getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+		else if (payload instanceof String string) {
+			body = string.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
 		}
 		else {
 			MessageConverter converter = getConverter();
-			body = (byte[]) converter.fromMessage(message, byte[].class);
-			Assert.state(body != null,
+			Message<?> converted = converter.toMessage(payload, message.getHeaders());
+			Assert.state(converted != null,
 					() -> "The MQTT payload cannot be null. The '" + converter + "' returned null for: " + message);
+			Object convertedPayload = converted.getPayload();
+			if (convertedPayload instanceof byte[] bytes) {
+				body = bytes;
+			}
+			else if (convertedPayload instanceof String string) {
+				body = string.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+			}
+			else {
+				throw new IllegalStateException("The MQTT payload must be a 'byte[]' or 'String'. The '" + converter +
+						"' returned a '" + convertedPayload.getClass().getSimpleName() + "' for: " + message);
+			}
 		}
 
 		MqttMessage mqttMessage = new MqttMessage();
diff --git a/spring-integration-mqtt/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/mqtt/Mqttv5HandlerTests.java b/spring-integration-mqtt/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/mqtt/Mqttv5HandlerTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d437cc35c29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-integration-mqtt/src/test/java/org/springframework/integration/mqtt/Mqttv5HandlerTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2026-present the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.integration.mqtt;
+
+import org.eclipse.paho.mqttv5.client.IMqttAsyncClient;
+import org.eclipse.paho.mqttv5.client.IMqttToken;
+import org.eclipse.paho.mqttv5.client.MqttConnectionOptions;
+import org.eclipse.paho.mqttv5.common.MqttMessage;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.mockito.ArgumentCaptor;
+import tools.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory;
+import org.springframework.integration.mqtt.core.ClientManager;
+import org.springframework.integration.mqtt.outbound.Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler;
+import org.springframework.integration.support.MessageBuilder;
+import org.springframework.integration.support.converter.ConfigurableCompositeMessageConverter;
+import org.springframework.messaging.MessageHeaders;
+import org.springframework.messaging.converter.MessageConverter;
+import org.springframework.messaging.support.GenericMessage;
+import org.springframework.util.MimeTypeUtils;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.any;
+import static org.mockito.ArgumentMatchers.anyString;
+import static org.mockito.BDDMockito.given;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.verify;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests for {@link Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler}, focusing on the outbound payload
+ * conversion path.
+ *
+ * @author Deng Pan
+ *
+ * @since 6.5.9
+ */
+class Mqttv5HandlerTests {
+
+	@Test
+	void publishPojoWithDefaultConverter() throws Exception {
+		IMqttAsyncClient mockClient = mock();
+		IMqttToken token = mock();
+		given(mockClient.isConnected()).willReturn(true);
+		given(mockClient.publish(anyString(), any(MqttMessage.class), any(), any())).willReturn(token);
+
+		Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler handler = createHandler(mockClient, new ConfigurableCompositeMessageConverter());
+
+		TestPojo pojo = new TestPojo("test", 1);
+		handler.handleMessage(MessageBuilder.withPayload(pojo)
+				.setHeader(MessageHeaders.CONTENT_TYPE, MimeTypeUtils.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE)
+				.build());
+
+		// Capture the MqttMessage actually handed to paho and round-trip its payload bytes
+		// through Jackson to confirm the POJO was serialized to JSON.
+		ArgumentCaptor<MqttMessage> captor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(MqttMessage.class);
+		verify(mockClient).publish(anyString(), captor.capture(), any(), any());
+		TestPojo roundTripped = new ObjectMapper().readValue(captor.getValue().getPayload(), TestPojo.class);
+		assertThat(roundTripped).isEqualTo(pojo);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void publishPojoWithCustomConverter() throws Exception {
+		IMqttAsyncClient mockClient = mock();
+		IMqttToken token = mock();
+		given(mockClient.isConnected()).willReturn(true);
+		given(mockClient.publish(anyString(), any(MqttMessage.class), any(), any())).willReturn(token);
+
+		MessageConverter converter = mock(MessageConverter.class);
+		given(converter.toMessage(any(), any(MessageHeaders.class)))
+				.willAnswer(invocation -> new GenericMessage<>("test"));
+
+		Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler handler = createHandler(mockClient, converter);
+
+		handler.handleMessage(MessageBuilder.withPayload(new TestPojo("test", 2)).build());
+
+		// Custom converter returns a String; verify the handler applies the String -> bytes safeguard.
+		ArgumentCaptor<MqttMessage> captor = ArgumentCaptor.forClass(MqttMessage.class);
+		verify(mockClient).publish(anyString(), captor.capture(), any(), any());
+		assertThat(captor.getValue().getPayload()).isEqualTo("test".getBytes());
+	}
+
+	private static Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler createHandler(IMqttAsyncClient mockClient, MessageConverter converter) {
+		ClientManager<IMqttAsyncClient, MqttConnectionOptions> clientManager = mock();
+		given(clientManager.getUrl()).willReturn("tcp://localhost:1883");
+		given(clientManager.getClientId()).willReturn("testClient");
+		given(clientManager.getConnectionInfo()).willReturn(new MqttConnectionOptions());
+		given(clientManager.getClient()).willReturn(mockClient);
+
+		Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler handler = new Mqttv5PahoMessageHandler(clientManager);
+		handler.setDefaultTopic("test/topic");
+		handler.setConverter(converter);
+		handler.setBeanFactory(mock(BeanFactory.class));
+		handler.afterPropertiesSet();
+		handler.start();
+		return handler;
+	}
+
+	record TestPojo(String name, int value) { }
+}