diff --git a/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteConfigurationEntryStore.java b/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteConfigurationEntryStore.java
index d5934fb19f..20fa3d664f 100644
--- a/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteConfigurationEntryStore.java
+++ b/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteConfigurationEntryStore.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import sonia.scm.security.UUIDKeyGenerator;
 import javax.xml.bind.JAXB;
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -68,6 +69,14 @@ public class InMemoryByteConfigurationEntryStore<V> implements ConfigurationEntr
     store.put(id, baos.toByteArray());
   }
 
+  /**
+   * This method can be used to mock stores with raw xml data to test update steps or otherwise the compatability of
+   * objects with old versions.
+   */
+  public void putRawXml(String id, String xml) {
+    store.put(id, xml.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+  }
+
   @Override
   public Map<String, V> getAll() {
     Map<String, V> all = new HashMap<>();
diff --git a/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteConfigurationStore.java b/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteConfigurationStore.java
index 3025a3e810..c7c75ace57 100644
--- a/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteConfigurationStore.java
+++ b/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteConfigurationStore.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ package sonia.scm.store;
 import javax.xml.bind.JAXB;
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 
 /**
  * In memory store implementation of {@link ConfigurationStore} using a byte array to store the serialized object.
@@ -64,4 +65,12 @@ public class InMemoryByteConfigurationStore<T> implements ConfigurationStore<T>
     JAXB.marshal(object, baos);
     store = baos.toByteArray();
   }
+
+  /**
+   * This method can be used to mock stores with raw xml data to test update steps or otherwise the compatability of
+   * objects with old versions.
+   */
+  public void setRawXml(String xml) {
+    store = xml.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+  }
 }
diff --git a/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteDataStore.java b/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteDataStore.java
index 9e902054e5..46b1a1623a 100644
--- a/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteDataStore.java
+++ b/scm-test/src/main/java/sonia/scm/store/InMemoryByteDataStore.java
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import sonia.scm.security.UUIDKeyGenerator;
 import javax.xml.bind.JAXB;
 import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -68,6 +69,14 @@ public class InMemoryByteDataStore<T> implements DataStore<T> {
     store.put(id, baos.toByteArray());
   }
 
+  /**
+   * This method can be used to mock stores with raw xml data to test update steps or otherwise the compatability of
+   * objects with old versions.
+   */
+  public void putRawXml(String id, String xml) {
+    store.put(id, xml.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+  }
+
   @Override
   public Map<String, T> getAll() {
     Map<String, T> all = new HashMap<>();