diff --git a/src/lune/builtins/net/mod.rs b/src/lune/builtins/net/mod.rs
index 1972dc8..d41b047 100644
--- a/src/lune/builtins/net/mod.rs
+++ b/src/lune/builtins/net/mod.rs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ pub fn create(lua: &Lua) -> LuaResult<LuaTable> {
 
 fn net_json_encode<'lua>(
     lua: &'lua Lua,
-    (val, pretty): (BString, Option<bool>),
+    (val, pretty): (LuaValue<'lua>, Option<bool>),
 ) -> LuaResult<LuaString<'lua>> {
     EncodeDecodeConfig::from((EncodeDecodeFormat::Json, pretty.unwrap_or_default()))
         .serialize_to_string(lua, val)
diff --git a/src/lune/builtins/net/websocket.rs b/src/lune/builtins/net/websocket.rs
index fb7233c..5dba4ec 100644
--- a/src/lune/builtins/net/websocket.rs
+++ b/src/lune/builtins/net/websocket.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use std::sync::{
     Arc,
 };
 
+use bstr::{BString, ByteSlice};
 use mlua::prelude::*;
 
 use futures_util::{
@@ -160,7 +161,7 @@ where
 
         methods.add_async_method(
             "send",
-            |_, this, (string, as_binary): (LuaString, Option<bool>)| async move {
+            |_, this, (string, as_binary): (BString, Option<bool>)| async move {
                 this.send(if as_binary.unwrap_or_default() {
                     WsMessage::Binary(string.as_bytes().to_vec())
                 } else {
diff --git a/src/lune/builtins/serde/encode_decode.rs b/src/lune/builtins/serde/encode_decode.rs
index 68a7f18..d8bae5c 100644
--- a/src/lune/builtins/serde/encode_decode.rs
+++ b/src/lune/builtins/serde/encode_decode.rs
@@ -57,14 +57,11 @@ impl EncodeDecodeConfig {
     pub fn serialize_to_string<'lua>(
         self,
         lua: &'lua Lua,
-        value: BString,
+        value: LuaValue<'lua>,
     ) -> LuaResult<LuaString<'lua>> {
         let bytes = match self.format {
             EncodeDecodeFormat::Json => {
-                let serialized: JsonValue = lua.from_value_with(
-                    LuaValue::String(lua.create_string(value)?),
-                    LUA_DESERIALIZE_OPTIONS,
-                )?;
+                let serialized: JsonValue = lua.from_value_with(value, LUA_DESERIALIZE_OPTIONS)?;
                 if self.pretty {
                     serde_json::to_vec_pretty(&serialized).into_lua_err()?
                 } else {
@@ -72,19 +69,13 @@ impl EncodeDecodeConfig {
                 }
             }
             EncodeDecodeFormat::Yaml => {
-                let serialized: YamlValue = lua.from_value_with(
-                    LuaValue::String(lua.create_string(value)?),
-                    LUA_DESERIALIZE_OPTIONS,
-                )?;
+                let serialized: YamlValue = lua.from_value_with(value, LUA_DESERIALIZE_OPTIONS)?;
                 let mut writer = Vec::with_capacity(128);
                 serde_yaml::to_writer(&mut writer, &serialized).into_lua_err()?;
                 writer
             }
             EncodeDecodeFormat::Toml => {
-                let serialized: TomlValue = lua.from_value_with(
-                    LuaValue::String(lua.create_string(value)?),
-                    LUA_DESERIALIZE_OPTIONS,
-                )?;
+                let serialized: TomlValue = lua.from_value_with(value, LUA_DESERIALIZE_OPTIONS)?;
                 let s = if self.pretty {
                     toml::to_string_pretty(&serialized).into_lua_err()?
                 } else {
diff --git a/src/lune/builtins/serde/mod.rs b/src/lune/builtins/serde/mod.rs
index bad9f51..910cb59 100644
--- a/src/lune/builtins/serde/mod.rs
+++ b/src/lune/builtins/serde/mod.rs
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ pub fn create(lua: &Lua) -> LuaResult<LuaTable> {
 
 fn serde_encode<'lua>(
     lua: &'lua Lua,
-    (format, val, pretty): (EncodeDecodeFormat, BString, Option<bool>),
+    (format, val, pretty): (EncodeDecodeFormat, LuaValue<'lua>, Option<bool>),
 ) -> LuaResult<LuaString<'lua>> {
     let config = EncodeDecodeConfig::from((format, pretty.unwrap_or_default()));
     config.serialize_to_string(lua, val)