diff --git a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/SerializeSpec.scala b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/SerializeSpec.scala
index 7d14b28d6d..ab9b0dfd6c 100644
--- a/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/SerializeSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-actor-tests/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/SerializeSpec.scala
@@ -339,8 +339,12 @@ class SerializationCompatibilitySpec extends AkkaSpec(SerializationTests.mostlyR
   val ser = SerializationExtension(system)
 
   "Cross-version serialization compatibility" must {
-    def verify(obj: SystemMessage, asExpected: String): Unit =
-      String.valueOf(ser.serialize(obj).map(encodeHex).get) should ===(asExpected)
+    def verify(obj: SystemMessage, asExpected: String): Unit = {
+      val bytes = javax.xml.bind.DatatypeConverter.parseHexBinary(asExpected)
+      val stream = new ObjectInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes))
+      val read = stream.readObject()
+      read should ===(obj)
+    }
 
     "be preserved for the Create SystemMessage" in {
       // Using null as the cause to avoid a large serialized message and JDK differences