diff --git a/core/commands/pubsub.go b/core/commands/pubsub.go
index 4632e6fdf8c9..b45d657dca23 100644
--- a/core/commands/pubsub.go
+++ b/core/commands/pubsub.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package commands
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/ioutil"
@@ -127,24 +126,15 @@ TOPIC ENCODING
 			_, err = w.Write(dec)
 			return err
 		}),
-		// --enc=ndpayload is not documented, byt used internally by sharness tests
+		// DEPRECATED, undocumented format we used in tests, but not anymore
+		// <message.payload>\n<message.payload>\n
 		"ndpayload": cmds.MakeTypedEncoder(func(req *cmds.Request, w io.Writer, psm *pubsubMessage) error {
-			_, dec, err := mbase.Decode(psm.Data)
-			if err != nil {
-				return err
-			}
-			data := append(dec, '\n')
-			_, err = w.Write(data)
-			return err
+			return errors.New("--enc=ndpayload was removed, use --enc=json instead")
 		}),
-		// ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ – seems unused, can we remove this?
+		// DEPRECATED, uncodumented format we used in tests, but not anymore
+		// <varint-len><message.payload><varint-len><message.payload>
 		"lenpayload": cmds.MakeTypedEncoder(func(req *cmds.Request, w io.Writer, psm *pubsubMessage) error {
-			buf := make([]byte, 8, len(psm.Data)+8)
-
-			n := binary.PutUvarint(buf, uint64(len(psm.Data)))
-			buf = append(buf[:n], psm.Data...)
-			_, err := w.Write(buf)
-			return err
+			return errors.New("--enc=lenpayload was removed, use --enc=json instead")
 		}),
 	},
 	Type: pubsubMessage{},
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0180-pubsub-gossipsub.sh b/test/sharness/t0180-pubsub-gossipsub.sh
index c5ff8daf39e8..8c0686efd1e1 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0180-pubsub-gossipsub.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0180-pubsub-gossipsub.sh
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ test_expect_success 'peer ids' '
 '
 
 test_expect_success 'pubsub' '
-  echo "testOK" > expected &&
+  echo -n "testOK" | ipfs multibase encode -b base64url > expected &&
   touch empty &&
   mkfifo wait ||
   test_fsh echo init fail
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ test_expect_success 'pubsub' '
   # ipfs pubsub sub is long-running so we need to start it in the background and
   # wait put its output somewhere where we can access it
   (
-    ipfsi 0 pubsub sub --enc=ndpayload testTopic | if read line; then
-        echo $line > actual &&
+    ipfsi 0 pubsub sub --enc=json testTopic | if read line; then
+        echo $line | jq -j .data > actual &&
         echo > wait
       fi
   ) &
@@ -64,15 +64,15 @@ test_expect_success "wait until echo > wait executed" '
 '
 
 test_expect_success "wait for another pubsub message" '
-  echo "testOK2" > expected &&
+  echo -n "testOK2" | ipfs multibase encode -b base64url > expected &&
   mkfifo wait2 ||
   test_fsh echo init fail
 
   # ipfs pubsub sub is long-running so we need to start it in the background and
   # wait put its output somewhere where we can access it
   (
-    ipfsi 2 pubsub sub --enc=ndpayload testTopic | if read line; then
-        echo $line > actual &&
+    ipfsi 2 pubsub sub --enc=json testTopic | if read line; then
+        echo $line | jq -j .data > actual &&
         echo > wait2
       fi
   ) &
@@ -83,11 +83,10 @@ test_expect_success "wait until ipfs pubsub sub is ready to do work" '
 '
 
 test_expect_success "publish something" '
-  echo "testOK2" | ipfsi 1 pubsub pub testTopic &> pubErr
+  echo -n "testOK2" | ipfsi 1 pubsub pub testTopic &> pubErr
 '
 
 test_expect_success "wait until echo > wait executed" '
-  echo "testOK2" > expected &&
   cat wait2 &&
   test_cmp pubErr empty &&
   test_cmp expected actual
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0180-pubsub.sh b/test/sharness/t0180-pubsub.sh
index 349e98d54c38..20d5f4c1c74b 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0180-pubsub.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0180-pubsub.sh
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ run_pubsub_tests() {
   
   # ipfs pubsub sub
   test_expect_success 'pubsub' '
-    echo "testOK" > expected &&
+    echo -n "testOK" | ipfs multibase encode -b base64url > expected &&
     touch empty &&
     mkfifo wait ||
     test_fsh echo init fail
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ run_pubsub_tests() {
     # ipfs pubsub sub is long-running so we need to start it in the background and
     # wait put its output somewhere where we can access it
     (
-      ipfsi 0 pubsub sub --enc=ndpayload testTopic | if read line; then
-          echo $line > actual &&
+      ipfsi 0 pubsub sub --enc=json testTopic | if read line; then
+          echo $line | jq -j .data > actual &&
           echo > wait
         fi
     ) &
@@ -61,15 +61,15 @@ run_pubsub_tests() {
   '
   
   test_expect_success "wait for another pubsub message" '
-    echo "testOK2" > expected &&
+    echo -n "testOK2" | ipfs multibase encode -b base64url > expected &&
     mkfifo wait2 ||
     test_fsh echo init fail
   
     # ipfs pubsub sub is long-running so we need to start it in the background and
     # wait put its output somewhere where we can access it
     (
-      ipfsi 2 pubsub sub --enc=ndpayload testTopic | if read line; then
-          echo $line > actual &&
+      ipfsi 2 pubsub sub --enc=json testTopic | if read line; then
+          echo $line | jq -j .data > actual &&
           echo > wait2
         fi
     ) &
@@ -80,11 +80,10 @@ run_pubsub_tests() {
   '
   
   test_expect_success "publish something" '
-    echo "testOK2" | ipfsi 3 pubsub pub testTopic &> pubErr
+    echo -n "testOK2" | ipfsi 3 pubsub pub testTopic &> pubErr
   '
   
   test_expect_success "wait until echo > wait executed" '
-    echo "testOK2" > expected &&
     cat wait2 &&
     test_cmp pubErr empty &&
     test_cmp expected actual
@@ -114,7 +113,7 @@ startup_cluster $NUM_NODES --enable-pubsub-experiment
 
 test_expect_success 'set node 4 to listen on testTopic' '
   rm -f node4_actual &&
-  ipfsi 4 pubsub sub --enc=ndpayload testTopic > node4_actual &
+  ipfsi 4 pubsub sub --enc=json testTopic > node4_actual &
 '
 
 run_pubsub_tests