diff --git a/core/src/main/java/google/registry/model/smd/EncodedSignedMark.java b/core/src/main/java/google/registry/model/smd/EncodedSignedMark.java
index 9edcaa218..c2da520ab 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/google/registry/model/smd/EncodedSignedMark.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/google/registry/model/smd/EncodedSignedMark.java
@@ -17,12 +17,11 @@ package google.registry.model.smd;
 import static com.google.common.base.MoreObjects.firstNonNull;
 import static com.google.common.io.BaseEncoding.base64;
 
-import com.google.appengine.api.datastore.Text;
+import com.google.common.base.CharMatcher;
 import google.registry.model.ImmutableObject;
 import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAttribute;
 import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement;
 import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlValue;
-import javax.xml.bind.annotation.adapters.XmlJavaTypeAdapter;
 
 /**
  * Encoded data representation of a {@link SignedMark} object.
@@ -35,31 +34,27 @@ public class EncodedSignedMark extends ImmutableObject implements AbstractSigned
 
   private static final String ENCODING_DEFAULT = "base64";
 
+  private static final CharMatcher WHITESPACE = CharMatcher.anyOf(" \t\r\n");
+
   /** Encoding used for contained data. Default is {@value #ENCODING_DEFAULT}. */
   @XmlAttribute
   String encoding;
 
-  /**
-   * Encoded data. This is stored in a Text field rather than a String due to historical reasons,
-   * namely that Objectify cannot autoconvert Strings greater than 500 characters to Text within
-   * {@code Embed} collections.
-   */
-  @XmlValue
-  @XmlJavaTypeAdapter(RemoveWhitespaceTextAdapter.class)
-  Text encodedData;
+  /** Encoded data. */
+  @XmlValue String encodedData;
 
   public String getEncoding() {
     return firstNonNull(encoding, ENCODING_DEFAULT);
   }
 
   public String getEncodedData() {
-    return encodedData == null ? "" : encodedData.getValue();
+    return encodedData == null ? "" : WHITESPACE.removeFrom(encodedData);
   }
 
   public static EncodedSignedMark create(String encoding, String encodedData) {
     EncodedSignedMark instance = new EncodedSignedMark();
     instance.encoding = encoding;
-    instance.encodedData = new Text(encodedData);
+    instance.encodedData = encodedData;
     return instance;
   }
 
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/google/registry/model/smd/RemoveWhitespaceTextAdapter.java b/core/src/main/java/google/registry/model/smd/RemoveWhitespaceTextAdapter.java
deleted file mode 100644
index b2b4c3f7d..000000000
--- a/core/src/main/java/google/registry/model/smd/RemoveWhitespaceTextAdapter.java
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,38 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2017 The Nomulus Authors. All Rights Reserved.
-//
-// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-// You may obtain a copy of the License at
-//
-//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-//
-// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-// limitations under the License.
-
-package google.registry.model.smd;
-
-import com.google.appengine.api.datastore.Text;
-import com.google.common.base.CharMatcher;
-import javax.xml.bind.annotation.adapters.XmlAdapter;
-
-/**
- * {@link XmlAdapter} which removes all whitespace from a string and then converts the result a
- * {@link Text} object.
- */
-public class RemoveWhitespaceTextAdapter extends XmlAdapter<String, Text> {
-
-  private static final CharMatcher WHITESPACE = CharMatcher.anyOf(" \t\r\n");
-
-  @Override
-  public Text unmarshal(String value) {
-    return (value == null) ? null : new Text(WHITESPACE.removeFrom(value));
-  }
-
-  @Override
-  public String marshal(Text t) {
-    return (t == null) ? null : t.getValue();
-  }
-}