diff --git a/telephony/java/com/android/internal/telephony/cdma/sms/BearerData.java b/telephony/java/com/android/internal/telephony/cdma/sms/BearerData.java
index b6977253fa878..12644c84b4b4e 100755
--- a/telephony/java/com/android/internal/telephony/cdma/sms/BearerData.java
+++ b/telephony/java/com/android/internal/telephony/cdma/sms/BearerData.java
@@ -1013,17 +1013,17 @@ public final class BearerData {
             boolean decodingtypeUTF8 = Resources.getSystem()
                     .getBoolean(com.android.internal.R.bool.config_sms_utf8_support);
 
+            // Strip off any padding bytes, meaning any differences between the length of the
+            // array and the target length specified by numFields.  This is to avoid any
+            // confusion by code elsewhere that only considers the payload array length.
+            byte[] payload = new byte[userData.numFields];
+            int copyLen = userData.numFields < userData.payload.length
+                    ? userData.numFields : userData.payload.length;
+
+            System.arraycopy(userData.payload, 0, payload, 0, copyLen);
+            userData.payload = payload;
+
             if (!decodingtypeUTF8) {
-                // Strip off any padding bytes, meaning any differences between the length of the
-                // array and the target length specified by numFields.  This is to avoid any
-                // confusion by code elsewhere that only considers the payload array length.
-                byte[] payload = new byte[userData.numFields];
-                int copyLen = userData.numFields < userData.payload.length
-                        ? userData.numFields : userData.payload.length;
-
-                System.arraycopy(userData.payload, 0, payload, 0, copyLen);
-                userData.payload = payload;
-
                 // There are many devices in the market that send 8bit text sms (latin encoded) as
                 // octet encoded.
                 userData.payloadStr = decodeLatin(userData.payload, offset, userData.numFields);