diff --git a/src/KubernetesClient/KubernetesYaml.cs b/src/KubernetesClient/KubernetesYaml.cs
index e7134daa..84feb358 100644
--- a/src/KubernetesClient/KubernetesYaml.cs
+++ b/src/KubernetesClient/KubernetesYaml.cs
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ public object ReadYaml(IParser parser, Type type, ObjectDeserializer rootDeseria
                             return null;
                         }
 
-                        return Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes(scalar.Value);
+                        return Convert.FromBase64String(scalar.Value);
                     }
                     finally
                     {
@@ -91,19 +91,15 @@ public object ReadYaml(IParser parser, Type type, ObjectDeserializer rootDeseria
 
             public void WriteYaml(IEmitter emitter, object value, Type type, ObjectSerializer serializer)
             {
+                if (value == null)
+                {
+                    emitter.Emit(new Scalar(string.Empty));
+                    return;
+                }
+
                 var obj = (byte[])value;
-                var strValue = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(obj);
-
-                // Check if the string is multi-line by looking for a newline character.
-                var scalarStyle = strValue.Contains('\n') ? ScalarStyle.Literal : ScalarStyle.Any;
-
-                emitter.Emit(new Scalar(
-                    AnchorName.Empty,
-                    TagName.Empty,
-                    strValue,
-                    scalarStyle,
-                    true,
-                    true));
+                var encoded = Convert.ToBase64String(obj);
+                emitter.Emit(new Scalar(encoded));
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/tests/KubernetesClient.Tests/KubernetesYamlTests.cs b/tests/KubernetesClient.Tests/KubernetesYamlTests.cs
index 29c3b0d5..19b03fda 100644
--- a/tests/KubernetesClient.Tests/KubernetesYamlTests.cs
+++ b/tests/KubernetesClient.Tests/KubernetesYamlTests.cs
@@ -804,12 +804,12 @@ public void LoadSecret()
         {
             var kManifest = @"
 apiVersion: v1
+data:
+  username: YlhrdFlYQnc=
+  password: TXprMU1qZ2tkbVJuTjBwaQ==
 kind: Secret
 metadata:
   name: test-secret
-data:
-  username: bXktYXBw
-  password: Mzk1MjgkdmRnN0pi
 ";
 
             var result = KubernetesYaml.Deserialize<V1Secret>(kManifest, true);
@@ -823,13 +823,8 @@ public void WriteSecret()
             var kManifest = """
 apiVersion: v1
 data:
-  username: bXktYXBw
-  tls2.crt: |
-    -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
-    FAKE CERT
-    FAKE CERT
-    FAKE CERT
-    -----END CERTIFICATE-----
+  username: YlhrdFlYQnc=
+  password: TXprMU1qZ2tkbVJuTjBwaQ==
 kind: Secret
 metadata:
   name: test-secret
@@ -841,6 +836,45 @@ FAKE CERT
             Assert.Equal(kManifest, yaml);
         }
 
+        [Fact]
+        public void LoadConfigMap()
+        {
+            var kManifest = @"
+apiVersion: v1
+binaryData:
+  username: YlhrdFlYQnc=
+data:
+  password: Mzk1MjgkdmRnN0pi
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: test-configmap
+";
+
+            var result = KubernetesYaml.Deserialize<V1ConfigMap>(kManifest, true);
+            Assert.Equal("bXktYXBw", Encoding.UTF8.GetString(result.BinaryData["username"]));
+            Assert.Equal("Mzk1MjgkdmRnN0pi", result.Data["password"]);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void WriteConfigMap()
+        {
+            var kManifest = """
+apiVersion: v1
+binaryData:
+  username: YlhrdFlYQnc=
+data:
+  password: Mzk1MjgkdmRnN0pi
+kind: ConfigMap
+metadata:
+  name: test-configmap
+""";
+
+            var result = KubernetesYaml.Deserialize<V1ConfigMap>(kManifest, true);
+            var yaml = KubernetesYaml.Serialize(result);
+
+            Assert.Equal(kManifest, yaml);
+        }
+
         [Fact]
         public void DeserializeWithJsonPropertyName()
         {