diff --git a/presto-kafka/src/main/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/KafkaConnectorConfig.java b/presto-kafka/src/main/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/KafkaConnectorConfig.java
index 1df2891ef..ae5708ac8 100644
--- a/presto-kafka/src/main/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/KafkaConnectorConfig.java
+++ b/presto-kafka/src/main/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/KafkaConnectorConfig.java
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ public class KafkaConnectorConfig
     /**
      * whether to use kerberos
      */
-    private boolean kerberosOn;
+    private String kerberosOn;
 
     public String getKrb5Conf()
     {
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ public class KafkaConnectorConfig
         return this;
     }
 
-    public boolean isKerberosOn()
+    public String isKerberosOn()
     {
         return kerberosOn;
     }
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ public class KafkaConnectorConfig
             defaultValue = "false",
             required = true)
     @Config("kerberos.on")
-    public KafkaConnectorConfig setKerberosOn(boolean kerberosOn)
+    public KafkaConnectorConfig setKerberosOn(String kerberosOn)
     {
         this.kerberosOn = kerberosOn;
         return this;
diff --git a/presto-kafka/src/main/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/KafkaSimpleConsumerManager.java b/presto-kafka/src/main/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/KafkaSimpleConsumerManager.java
index 056316072..91b5ccc3f 100644
--- a/presto-kafka/src/main/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/KafkaSimpleConsumerManager.java
+++ b/presto-kafka/src/main/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/KafkaSimpleConsumerManager.java
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public class KafkaSimpleConsumerManager
     private final int connectTimeoutMillis;
     private final int bufferSizeBytes;
 
-    private final boolean kerberosOn;
+    private final String kerberosOn;
     private final String loginConfig;
     private final String krb5Conf;
     private String groupId;
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ public class KafkaSimpleConsumerManager
     {
         log.info("Creating new SaslConsumer for %s", host);
         Properties props = new Properties();
-        if (kerberosOn) {
+        if ("true".equalsIgnoreCase(kerberosOn)) {
             System.setProperty("java.security.auth.login.config", loginConfig);
             System.setProperty("java.security.krb5.conf", krb5Conf);
             props.put("security.protocol", securityProtocol);
diff --git a/presto-kafka/src/test/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/TestKafkaConnectorConfig.java b/presto-kafka/src/test/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/TestKafkaConnectorConfig.java
index 3300fa02a..ac2d7444a 100644
--- a/presto-kafka/src/test/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/TestKafkaConnectorConfig.java
+++ b/presto-kafka/src/test/java/io/prestosql/plugin/kafka/TestKafkaConnectorConfig.java
@@ -32,13 +32,13 @@ public class TestKafkaConnectorConfig
                 .setDefaultSchema("default")
                 .setTableNames("")
                 .setTableDescriptionDir(new File("etc/kafka/"))
-                .setGroupId("test")
-                .setKerberosOn(false)
-                .setSecurityProtocol("SASL_PLAINTEXT")
-                .setKrb5Conf("/etc/krb5.conf")
-                .setLoginConfig("/etc/kafka_client_jaas.conf")
-                .setSaslKerberosServiceName("kafka")
-                .setSaslMechanism("GSSAPI")
+                .setGroupId(null)
+                .setKerberosOn(null)
+                .setSecurityProtocol(null)
+                .setKrb5Conf(null)
+                .setLoginConfig(null)
+                .setSaslKerberosServiceName(null)
+                .setSaslMechanism(null)
                 .setHideInternalColumns(true));
     }
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ public class TestKafkaConnectorConfig
                 .setLoginConfig("/etc/kafka_client_jaas.conf")
                 .setSaslKerberosServiceName("kafka")
                 .setSaslMechanism("GSSAPI")
-                .setKerberosOn(false)
+                .setKerberosOn("false")
                 .setSecurityProtocol("SASL_PLAINTEXT")
                 .setHideInternalColumns(false);