diff --git a/aries_cloudagent/core/conductor.py b/aries_cloudagent/core/conductor.py
index 951e7d785a..d8c4743f0b 100644
--- a/aries_cloudagent/core/conductor.py
+++ b/aries_cloudagent/core/conductor.py
@@ -531,9 +531,11 @@ async def _queue_external(
             targets = (
                 [outbound.target] if outbound.target else (outbound.target_list or [])
             )
+            queue = await self.outbound_transport_manager.encode_message_external_queue(profile, outbound)
+
             for target in targets:
                 await self.outbound_queue.enqueue_message(
-                    outbound.payload, target.endpoint
+                    queue.payload, target.endpoint
                 )
 
             return OutboundSendStatus.SENT_TO_EXTERNAL_QUEUE
diff --git a/aries_cloudagent/transport/outbound/manager.py b/aries_cloudagent/transport/outbound/manager.py
index b9086445cb..2ec5f26d0f 100644
--- a/aries_cloudagent/transport/outbound/manager.py
+++ b/aries_cloudagent/transport/outbound/manager.py
@@ -234,6 +234,29 @@ def get_transport_instance(self, transport_id: str) -> BaseOutboundTransport:
         """Get an instance of a running transport by ID."""
         return self.running_transports[transport_id]
 
+
+    async def encode_message_external_queue(self, profile: Profile, outbound: OutboundMessage):
+        """
+        Add an outbound message to the queue.
+
+        Args:
+            profile: The active profile for the request
+            outbound: The outbound message to deliver
+        """
+        targets = [outbound.target] if outbound.target else (outbound.target_list or [])
+        transport_id = None
+        for target in targets:
+            endpoint = target.endpoint
+
+        queued = QueuedOutboundMessage(profile, outbound, target, None)
+
+        if queued.message and queued.message.enc_payload:
+            queued.payload = queued.message.enc_payload
+        else:
+            await self.perform_encode(queued)
+
+        return queued
+
     def enqueue_message(self, profile: Profile, outbound: OutboundMessage):
         """
         Add an outbound message to the queue.
@@ -423,8 +446,9 @@ def encode_queued_message(self, queued: QueuedOutboundMessage) -> asyncio.Task:
 
     async def perform_encode(self, queued: QueuedOutboundMessage):
         """Perform message encoding."""
-        transport = self.get_transport_instance(queued.transport_id)
-        wire_format = transport.wire_format or self.context.inject(BaseWireFormat)
+        #transport = self.get_transport_instance(queued.transport_id)
+        #wire_format = transport.wire_format or self.context.inject(BaseWireFormat)
+        wire_format = self.context.inject(BaseWireFormat)
         session = await queued.profile.session()
         queued.payload = await wire_format.encode_message(
             session,