diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index df8c368..dc5a339 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+## [1.8.1] - 2024-04-25
+
+- Use real value for template headers (should not be encoded as it is not a real header) 
+
 ## [1.8.0] - 2024-04-19
 
 - Support new functionality [Bulk Stream](https://help.mailtrap.io/article/113-sending-streams)
diff --git a/src/Api/AbstractEmails.php b/src/Api/AbstractEmails.php
index 02f5d60..06c2b22 100644
--- a/src/Api/AbstractEmails.php
+++ b/src/Api/AbstractEmails.php
@@ -58,10 +58,10 @@ protected function getPayload(Email $email): array
 
             switch(true) {
                 case $header instanceof CustomVariableHeader:
-                    $payload[CustomVariableHeader::VAR_NAME][$header->getName()] = $header->getBodyAsString();
+                    $payload[CustomVariableHeader::VAR_NAME][$header->getName()] = $header->getValue();
                     break;
                 case $header instanceof TemplateVariableHeader:
-                    $payload[TemplateVariableHeader::VAR_NAME][$header->getName()] = $header->getBodyAsString();
+                    $payload[TemplateVariableHeader::VAR_NAME][$header->getName()] = $header->getValue();
                     break;
                 case $header instanceof CategoryHeader:
                     if (!empty($payload[CategoryHeader::VAR_NAME])) {
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ protected function getPayload(Email $email): array
                         );
                     }
 
-                    $payload[CategoryHeader::VAR_NAME] = $header->getBodyAsString();
+                    $payload[CategoryHeader::VAR_NAME] = $header->getValue();
                     break;
                 case $header instanceof TemplateUuidHeader:
                     if (!empty($payload[TemplateUuidHeader::VAR_NAME])) {
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ protected function getPayload(Email $email): array
                         );
                     }
 
-                    $payload[TemplateUuidHeader::VAR_NAME] = $header->getBodyAsString();
+                    $payload[TemplateUuidHeader::VAR_NAME] = $header->getValue();
                     break;
                 default:
                     $payload['headers'][$header->getName()] = $header->getBodyAsString();
diff --git a/tests/Api/AbstractEmailsTest.php b/tests/Api/AbstractEmailsTest.php
index a8aa5e8..507f3c2 100644
--- a/tests/Api/AbstractEmailsTest.php
+++ b/tests/Api/AbstractEmailsTest.php
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ public function testValidSend(): void
             ->html('<p>Some text</p>')
         ;
         $email->getHeaders()
-            ->addTextHeader('X-Message-Source', 'dev.mydomain.com');
+            ->addTextHeader('X-Message-Source', 'dev.mydomain.com')
+            ->addTextHeader('Test-Unicode-Header', 'Subašić');
 
         $this->email
             ->expects($this->once())
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ public function testValidSend(): void
                     'X-Message-Source' => 'dev.mydomain.com',
                     'Reply-To' => 'reply@example.com',
                     'X-Priority' => '2 (High)',
+                    'Test-Unicode-Header' => '=?utf-8?Q?Suba=C5=A1i=C4=87?=', // See RFC 2822, Sect 2.2
                 ]
             ])
             ->willReturn(new Response(200, ['Content-Type' => 'application/json'], json_encode($expectedData)));
@@ -147,6 +149,7 @@ public function testValidSendTemplate(): void
         $email->getHeaders()
             ->add(new TemplateUuidHeader('bfa432fd-0000-0000-0000-8493da283a69'))
             ->add(new TemplateVariableHeader('user_name', 'Jon Bush'))
+            ->add(new TemplateVariableHeader('unicode_user_name', 'Subašić'))
             ->add(new TemplateVariableHeader('next_step_link', 'https://mailtrap.io/'))
             ->add(new TemplateVariableHeader('get_started_link', 'https://mailtrap.io/'))
             ->add(new TemplateVariableHeader('onboarding_video_link', 'some_video_link'))
@@ -167,6 +170,7 @@ public function testValidSendTemplate(): void
                 'template_uuid' => 'bfa432fd-0000-0000-0000-8493da283a69',
                 'template_variables' => [
                     'user_name' => 'Jon Bush',
+                    'unicode_user_name' => 'Subašić', // should not be encoded as it is not a real header
                     'next_step_link' => 'https://mailtrap.io/',
                     'get_started_link' => 'https://mailtrap.io/',
                     'onboarding_video_link' => 'some_video_link',