diff --git a/e2e_test/source/basic/kafka.slt b/e2e_test/source/basic/kafka.slt
index d5a1d630b941e..6326c48263db8 100644
--- a/e2e_test/source/basic/kafka.slt
+++ b/e2e_test/source/basic/kafka.slt
@@ -498,6 +498,16 @@ FORMAT DEBEZIUM ENCODE JSON (
   ignore_key = 'true'
 )
 
+statement error Payload column is only allowed when row encode is JSON, but got Bytes
+CREATE TABLE test_include_payload (a bytea)
+INCLUDE payload
+WITH (
+    connector = 'kafka',
+    topic = 'kafka_1_partition_topic',
+    properties.bootstrap.server = 'message_queue:29092',
+    scan.startup.mode = 'earliest'
+) FORMAT PLAIN ENCODE BYTES
+
 statement ok
 CREATE TABLE test_include_payload (v1 int, v2 varchar)
 INCLUDE payload