diff --git a/common/persistence/data_blob.go b/common/persistence/data_blob.go
index b34694c39ed..bf4204d30e5 100644
--- a/common/persistence/data_blob.go
+++ b/common/persistence/data_blob.go
@@ -27,20 +27,19 @@ package persistence
 import (
 	commonpb "go.temporal.io/api/common/v1"
 	enumspb "go.temporal.io/api/enums/v1"
-
-	"go.temporal.io/server/common/persistence/serialization"
 )
 
 // NewDataBlob returns a new DataBlob
+// TODO: return an UnknowEncodingType error with the actual type string when encodingTypeStr is invalid
 func NewDataBlob(data []byte, encodingTypeStr string) *commonpb.DataBlob {
 	if len(data) == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
 
 	encodingType, ok := enumspb.EncodingType_value[encodingTypeStr]
-	if !ok || (enumspb.EncodingType(encodingType) != enumspb.ENCODING_TYPE_PROTO3 &&
-		enumspb.EncodingType(encodingType) != enumspb.ENCODING_TYPE_JSON) {
-		panic(serialization.NewUnknownEncodingTypeError(encodingTypeStr, enumspb.ENCODING_TYPE_JSON, enumspb.ENCODING_TYPE_PROTO3))
+	if !ok {
+		// encodingTypeStr not valid, an error will be returned on deserialization
+		encodingType = int32(enumspb.ENCODING_TYPE_UNSPECIFIED)
 	}
 
 	return &commonpb.DataBlob{