diff --git a/internal/provider/cisco/iosxr/bgp_peer.go b/internal/provider/cisco/iosxr/bgp_peer.go
index e90a63385..f612a5e69 100644
--- a/internal/provider/cisco/iosxr/bgp_peer.go
+++ b/internal/provider/cisco/iosxr/bgp_peer.go
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 package iosxr
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
+	"encoding"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ var (
 	_ gnmiext.DataElement = (*BGPPeer)(nil)
 	_ gnmiext.DataElement = (*BGPPeerOperStatus)(nil)
 
-	_ json.Marshaler   = BGPPeerOperStatus{}
-	_ json.Unmarshaler = (*BGPPeerOperStatus)(nil)
+	_ encoding.TextMarshaler   = BGPPeerOperStatus{}
+	_ encoding.TextUnmarshaler = (*BGPPeerOperStatus)(nil)
 )
 
 type AfName string
@@ -191,16 +191,12 @@ func (p *BGPPeerOperStatus) XPath() string {
 	return "Cisco-IOS-XR-ipv4-bgp-oper:bgp/instances/instance[instance-name=" + BGPDefaultInstance + "]/instance-active/vrfs/vrf[vrf-name=" + p.Name + "]/sessions/session/connection-state"
 }
 
-func (p BGPPeerOperStatus) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
-	return json.Marshal(p.State)
+func (p BGPPeerOperStatus) MarshalText() ([]byte, error) {
+	return []byte(p.State), nil
 }
 
-func (p *BGPPeerOperStatus) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
-	var t string
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &t); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	p.State = BGPPeerOperSt(t)
+func (p *BGPPeerOperStatus) UnmarshalText(data []byte) error {
+	p.State = BGPPeerOperSt(data)
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/bgp.go b/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/bgp.go
index 92996735e..ab8dbf6fd 100644
--- a/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/bgp.go
+++ b/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/bgp.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 package nxos
 
 import (
+	"encoding"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"strings"
@@ -323,8 +324,8 @@ func (*MultisitePeerItems) XPath() string {
 }
 
 var (
-	_ json.Marshaler   = MultisitePeer{}
-	_ json.Unmarshaler = (*MultisitePeer)(nil)
+	_ encoding.TextMarshaler   = MultisitePeer{}
+	_ encoding.TextUnmarshaler = (*MultisitePeer)(nil)
 )
 
 type MultisitePeer struct {
@@ -336,16 +337,12 @@ func (p *MultisitePeer) XPath() string {
 	return "System/bgp-items/inst-items/dom-items/Dom-list[name=default]/peer-items/Peer-list[addr=" + p.Addr + "]/peerType"
 }
 
-func (p MultisitePeer) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
-	return json.Marshal(p.PeerType)
+func (p MultisitePeer) MarshalText() ([]byte, error) {
+	return []byte(p.PeerType), nil
 }
 
-func (p *MultisitePeer) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
-	var t string
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &t); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	p.PeerType = BorderGatewayPeerType(t)
+func (p *MultisitePeer) UnmarshalText(b []byte) error {
+	p.PeerType = BorderGatewayPeerType(b)
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/intf.go b/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/intf.go
index ba223f47d..48b9767ec 100644
--- a/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/intf.go
+++ b/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/intf.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package nxos
 import (
 	"cmp"
 	"context"
+	"encoding"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
@@ -670,20 +671,15 @@ const (
 )
 
 var (
-	_ fmt.Stringer     = UserFlags(0)
-	_ json.Marshaler   = UserFlags(0)
-	_ json.Unmarshaler = (*UserFlags)(nil)
+	_ fmt.Stringer             = UserFlags(0)
+	_ encoding.TextMarshaler   = UserFlags(0)
+	_ encoding.TextUnmarshaler = (*UserFlags)(nil)
 )
 
-// UnmarshalJSON implements json.Unmarshaler.
-func (f *UserFlags) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
-	var s string
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &s); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-
+// UnmarshalText implements encoding.TextUnmarshaler.
+func (f *UserFlags) UnmarshalText(b []byte) error {
 	var flags UserFlags
-	for flag := range strings.SplitSeq(s, ",") {
+	for flag := range strings.SplitSeq(string(b), ",") {
 		switch strings.TrimSpace(flag) {
 		case "admin_state":
 			flags |= UserFlagAdminState
@@ -705,9 +701,9 @@ func (f *UserFlags) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
-// MarshalJSON implements json.Marshaler.
-func (f UserFlags) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
-	return json.Marshal(f.String())
+// MarshalText implements encoding.TextMarshaler.
+func (f UserFlags) MarshalText() ([]byte, error) {
+	return []byte(f.String()), nil
 }
 
 // String implements fmt.Stringer.
diff --git a/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/provider.go b/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/provider.go
index 8e1a49a42..9322f36fd 100644
--- a/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/provider.go
+++ b/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/provider.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"crypto/rsa"
 	"crypto/x509"
+	"encoding"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
@@ -445,17 +446,18 @@ func (d *Directory) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+var _ encoding.TextUnmarshaler = (*dirTime)(nil)
+
 // dirTime handles the non-standard timestamp format returned by NX-OS dir output.
 type dirTime struct {
 	time.Time
 }
 
-func (t *dirTime) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
-	s := strings.Trim(string(b), `"`)
-	if s == "" || s == "null" {
+func (t *dirTime) UnmarshalText(b []byte) error {
+	if len(b) == 0 {
 		return nil
 	}
-	parsed, err := time.Parse("Jan 02 15:04:05 2006", s)
+	parsed, err := time.Parse("Jan 02 15:04:05 2006", string(b))
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/vlan.go b/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/vlan.go
index 46a94833f..4b446d618 100644
--- a/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/vlan.go
+++ b/internal/provider/cisco/nxos/vlan.go
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 package nxos
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
+	"encoding"
 
 	"github.com/ironcore-dev/network-operator/internal/transport/gnmiext"
 )
@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ func (b *BDItems) GetByVXLAN(v string) *VXLAN {
 }
 
 var (
-	_ json.Marshaler   = VXLAN{}
-	_ json.Unmarshaler = (*VXLAN)(nil)
+	_ encoding.TextMarshaler   = VXLAN{}
+	_ encoding.TextUnmarshaler = (*VXLAN)(nil)
 )
 
 // VXLAN represents VXLAN encapsulation settings for a VLAN.
@@ -116,15 +116,11 @@ func (v *VXLAN) XPath() string {
 	return "System/bd-items/bd-items/BD-list[fabEncap=" + v.FabEncap + "]/accEncap"
 }
 
-func (v VXLAN) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
-	return json.Marshal(v.AccEncap)
+func (v VXLAN) MarshalText() ([]byte, error) {
+	return []byte(v.AccEncap), nil
 }
 
-func (v *VXLAN) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
-	var encap string
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(b, &encap); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	v.AccEncap = encap
+func (v *VXLAN) UnmarshalText(b []byte) error {
+	v.AccEncap = string(b)
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/provider/openconfig/banner.go b/internal/provider/openconfig/banner.go
index aa71bae1c..c5c4ff0cc 100644
--- a/internal/provider/openconfig/banner.go
+++ b/internal/provider/openconfig/banner.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ package openconfig
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"encoding/json"
+	"encoding"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/ironcore-dev/network-operator/api/core/v1alpha1"
@@ -55,7 +55,11 @@ func toBannerType(t v1alpha1.BannerType) (BannerType, error) {
 }
 
 // Compile-time assertions.
-var _ gnmiext.DataElement = (*Banner)(nil)
+var (
+	_ gnmiext.DataElement      = (*Banner)(nil)
+	_ encoding.TextMarshaler   = (*Banner)(nil)
+	_ encoding.TextUnmarshaler = (*Banner)(nil)
+)
 
 // Banner targets a single banner leaf in the system config.
 type Banner struct {
@@ -68,10 +72,11 @@ func (b *Banner) XPath() string {
 	return fmt.Sprintf("openconfig-system:system/config/%s", b.Type)
 }
 
-func (b *Banner) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
-	return json.Marshal(b.Message)
+func (b Banner) MarshalText() ([]byte, error) {
+	return []byte(b.Message), nil
 }
 
-func (b *Banner) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
-	return json.Unmarshal(data, &b.Message)
+func (b *Banner) UnmarshalText(data []byte) error {
+	b.Message = string(data)
+	return nil
 }