diff --git a/alfresco-docker-tika/src/main/java/org/alfresco/transformer/TikaController.java b/alfresco-docker-tika/src/main/java/org/alfresco/transformer/TikaController.java
index d223f0c0..a78e9880 100644
--- a/alfresco-docker-tika/src/main/java/org/alfresco/transformer/TikaController.java
+++ b/alfresco-docker-tika/src/main/java/org/alfresco/transformer/TikaController.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
  */
 package org.alfresco.transformer;
 
+import static java.lang.Boolean.parseBoolean;
 import static org.alfresco.transformer.executors.Tika.INCLUDE_CONTENTS;
 import static org.alfresco.transformer.executors.Tika.NOT_EXTRACT_BOOKMARKS_TEXT;
 import static org.alfresco.transformer.executors.Tika.PDF_BOX;
@@ -36,7 +37,6 @@ import static org.alfresco.transformer.fs.FileManager.createSourceFile;
 import static org.alfresco.transformer.fs.FileManager.createTargetFile;
 import static org.alfresco.transformer.fs.FileManager.createTargetFileName;
 import static org.alfresco.transformer.util.MimetypeMap.MIMETYPE_TEXT_PLAIN;
-import static org.alfresco.transformer.util.Util.stringToBoolean;
 import static org.springframework.http.HttpStatus.OK;
 import static org.springframework.http.MediaType.MULTIPART_FORM_DATA_VALUE;
 
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ public class TikaController extends AbstractTransformerController
         @RequestParam("sourceMimetype") final String sourceMimetype,
         @RequestParam("targetExtension") final String targetExtension,
         @RequestParam("targetMimetype") final String targetMimetype,
-        @RequestParam("targetEncoding") final String targetEncoding,
+        @RequestParam(value = "targetEncoding", required = false, defaultValue = "UTF-8") final String targetEncoding,
 
         @RequestParam(value = "timeout", required = false) final Long timeout,
         @RequestParam(value = "testDelay", required = false) final Long testDelay,
@@ -173,16 +173,18 @@ public class TikaController extends AbstractTransformerController
         logger.debug("Processing request with: sourceFile '{}', targetFile '{}', transformOptions" +
                      " '{}', timeout {} ms", sourceFile, targetFile, transformOptions, timeout);
 
-        final Boolean includeContents = stringToBoolean(transformOptions.get("includeContents"));
-        final Boolean notExtractBookmarksText = stringToBoolean(
-            transformOptions.get("notExtractBookmarksText"));
-        final String targetEncoding = transformOptions.get("targetEncoding");
+        final boolean includeContents = parseBoolean(
+            transformOptions.getOrDefault("includeContents", "false"));
+        final boolean notExtractBookmarksText = parseBoolean(
+            transformOptions.getOrDefault("notExtractBookmarksText", "false"));
+        final String targetEncoding = transformOptions.getOrDefault("targetEncoding", "UTF-8");
 
         final String transform = getTransformerName(sourceFile, sourceMimetype, targetMimetype,
             transformOptions);
+
         javaExecutor.call(sourceFile, targetFile, transform,
-            includeContents != null && includeContents ? INCLUDE_CONTENTS : null,
-            notExtractBookmarksText != null && notExtractBookmarksText ? NOT_EXTRACT_BOOKMARKS_TEXT : null,
+            includeContents ? INCLUDE_CONTENTS : null,
+            notExtractBookmarksText ? NOT_EXTRACT_BOOKMARKS_TEXT : null,
             TARGET_MIMETYPE + targetMimetype, TARGET_ENCODING + targetEncoding);
     }
 }
diff --git a/alfresco-docker-tika/src/test/java/org/alfresco/transformer/TikaControllerTest.java b/alfresco-docker-tika/src/test/java/org/alfresco/transformer/TikaControllerTest.java
index 0405b9e4..c573ee6d 100644
--- a/alfresco-docker-tika/src/test/java/org/alfresco/transformer/TikaControllerTest.java
+++ b/alfresco-docker-tika/src/test/java/org/alfresco/transformer/TikaControllerTest.java
@@ -139,7 +139,6 @@ public class TikaControllerTest extends AbstractTransformerControllerTest
     @SpyBean
     private TikaController controller;
 
-    private String transform = PDF_BOX;
     private String targetEncoding = "UTF-8";
     private String targetMimetype = MIMETYPE_TEXT_PLAIN;
 
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index cad7bd5d..1f9f3991 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <parent>
         <groupId>org.springframework.boot</groupId>
         <artifactId>spring-boot-starter-parent</artifactId>
-        <version>2.1.7.RELEASE</version>
+        <version>2.1.8.RELEASE</version>
         <relativePath />
     </parent>