diff --git a/ldms/src/store/avro_kafka/store_avro_kafka.c b/ldms/src/store/avro_kafka/store_avro_kafka.c
index d10a18a9a..809f9cc55 100644
--- a/ldms/src/store/avro_kafka/store_avro_kafka.c
+++ b/ldms/src/store/avro_kafka/store_avro_kafka.c
@@ -915,6 +915,39 @@ static char *get_topic_name(aks_handle_t sh, ldms_set_t set, ldmsd_row_t row)
 	return topic;
 }
 
+
+static int row_to_avro_payload(aks_handle_t sh, ldmsd_row_t row,
+                               void **payload, size_t *sizep)
+{
+        avro_value_t avro_value;
+        serdes_schema_t *serdes_schema;
+        char errstr[512];
+        int rc = 0;
+
+        serdes_schema = serdes_schema_find(sh, (char *)row->schema_name, NULL, row);
+        if (!serdes_schema) {
+                LOG_ERROR("A serdes schema for '%s' could not be "
+                          "constructed.\n", row->schema_name);
+                return 1;
+        }
+        /* Encode ldmsd_row_s as an Avro value */
+        rc = serialize_row_as_avro(sh->serdes, serdes_schema, row, &avro_value);
+        if (rc) {
+                LOG_ERROR("Failed to format row as Avro value, error: %d\n", rc);
+                return rc;
+        }
+        /* Serialize an Avro value into a buffer */
+        if (serdes_schema_serialize_avro(serdes_schema, &avro_value,
+                                         payload, sizep,
+                                         errstr, sizeof(errstr))) {
+                LOG_ERROR("Failed to serialize Avro row: '%s'\n", errstr);
+                rc = 1;
+        }
+        avro_value_decref(&avro_value);
+
+        return rc;
+}
+
 /* protected by strgp->lock */
 static int
 commit_rows(ldmsd_strgp_t strgp, ldms_set_t set, ldmsd_row_list_t row_list,
@@ -923,9 +956,7 @@ commit_rows(ldmsd_strgp_t strgp, ldms_set_t set, ldmsd_row_list_t row_list,
 	aks_handle_t sh;
 	rd_kafka_topic_t *rkt;
 	ldmsd_row_t row;
-	avro_value_t avro_row;
 	int rc;
-	char errstr[512];
 
 	sh = strgp->store_handle;
 	if (!sh)
@@ -940,8 +971,7 @@ commit_rows(ldmsd_strgp_t strgp, ldms_set_t set, ldmsd_row_list_t row_list,
 	{
 		void *ser_buf = NULL;
 		size_t ser_buf_size;
-		int ser_size;
-		serdes_schema_t *serdes_schema;
+                int ser_size;
 
 		char *topic_name = get_topic_name(sh, set, row);
 		if (!topic_name) {
@@ -959,25 +989,11 @@ commit_rows(ldmsd_strgp_t strgp, ldms_set_t set, ldmsd_row_list_t row_list,
 		}
 		switch (sh->encoding) {
 		case AKS_ENCODING_AVRO:
-			serdes_schema = serdes_schema_find(sh, (char *)row->schema_name, NULL, row);
-			if (!serdes_schema) {
-				LOG_ERROR("A serdes schema for '%s' could not be "
-					"constructed.\n", row->schema_name);
-				goto skip_row_1;
-			}
-			/* Encode ldmsd_row_s as an Avro value */
-			rc = serialize_row_as_avro(sh->serdes, serdes_schema, row, &avro_row);
+                        rc = row_to_avro_payload(sh, row, &ser_buf, &ser_buf_size);
 			if (rc) {
-				LOG_ERROR("Failed to format row as Avro value, error: %d\n", rc);
+				LOG_ERROR("Failed to serialize row as AVRO object, error: %d", rc);
 				goto skip_row_1;
 			}
-			/* Serialize an Avro value into a buffer */
-			if (serdes_schema_serialize_avro(serdes_schema, &avro_row,
-							&ser_buf, &ser_buf_size,
-							errstr, sizeof(errstr))) {
-				LOG_ERROR("Failed to serialize Avro row: '%s'\n", errstr);
-				goto skip_row_2;
-			}
 			break;
 		case AKS_ENCODING_JSON:
 			/* Encode row as a JSON text object */
@@ -986,7 +1002,7 @@ commit_rows(ldmsd_strgp_t strgp, ldms_set_t set, ldmsd_row_list_t row_list,
 				LOG_ERROR("Failed to serialize row as JSON object, error: %d", rc);
 				goto skip_row_1;
 			}
-			ser_buf_size = ser_size;
+			ser_buf_size = (size_t)ser_size;
 			break;
 		default:
 			assert(0 == "Invalid/unsupported serialization encoding");
@@ -1002,9 +1018,6 @@ commit_rows(ldmsd_strgp_t strgp, ldms_set_t set, ldmsd_row_list_t row_list,
 				  rd_kafka_err2str(rd_kafka_last_error()));
 			free(ser_buf);
 		}
-	skip_row_2:
-		if (sh->encoding == AKS_ENCODING_AVRO)
-			avro_value_decref(&avro_row);
 	skip_row_1:
 		rd_kafka_topic_destroy(rkt);
 	skip_row_0: