diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 1341f216f6e43..d670c7d5e6c3b 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -89,12 +89,12 @@ flexible messaging model and an intuitive client API.</description>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
     <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
     <redirectTestOutputToFile>true</redirectTestOutputToFile>
-    <test.additional.args></test.additional.args>
+    <test.additional.args/>
     <testReuseFork>true</testReuseFork>
     <testForkCount>4</testForkCount>
     <testRealAWS>false</testRealAWS>
     <testRetryCount>1</testRetryCount>
-    <testJacocoAgentArgument></testJacocoAgentArgument>
+    <testJacocoAgentArgument/>
     <docker.organization>apachepulsar</docker.organization>
     <skipSourceReleaseAssembly>false</skipSourceReleaseAssembly>
     <skipBuildDistribution>false</skipBuildDistribution>
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ flexible messaging model and an intuitive client API.</description>
     <hbc-core.version>2.2.0</hbc-core.version>
     <cassandra-driver-core.version>3.6.0</cassandra-driver-core.version>
     <aerospike-client.version>4.4.20</aerospike-client.version>
-    <kafka-client.version>3.4.0</kafka-client.version>
+    <kafka-client.version>4.2.0</kafka-client.version>
     <rabbitmq-client.version>5.1.1</rabbitmq-client.version>
     <aws-sdk.version>1.12.262</aws-sdk.version>
     <avro.version>1.11.4</avro.version>