diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-integration/pom.xml b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-integration/pom.xml
index 8933b17b70f19..6d3e7576cd36d 100644
--- a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-integration/pom.xml
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-integration/pom.xml
@@ -37,16 +37,36 @@
             <groupId>org.apache.nifi</groupId>
             <artifactId>nifi-schema-registry-service-api</artifactId>
             <version>2.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.nifi</groupId>
+            <artifactId>nifi-ssl-context-service-api</artifactId>
+            <version>2.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.nifi</groupId>
+            <artifactId>nifi-ssl-context-service</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.nifi</groupId>
             <artifactId>nifi-utils</artifactId>
             <version>2.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.nifi</groupId>
+            <artifactId>nifi-property-utils</artifactId>
+            <version>2.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.nifi</groupId>
             <artifactId>nifi-record</artifactId>
             <version>2.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+            <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.nifi</groupId>
diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-integration/src/test/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/processors/PublishKafkaSSLIT.java b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-integration/src/test/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/processors/PublishKafkaSSLIT.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..d96f37b3eced4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-integration/src/test/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/processors/PublishKafkaSSLIT.java
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.nifi.kafka.processors;
+
+import org.apache.nifi.kafka.service.Kafka3ConnectionService;
+import org.apache.nifi.kafka.service.api.KafkaConnectionService;
+import org.apache.nifi.kafka.shared.property.SecurityProtocol;
+import org.apache.nifi.reporting.InitializationException;
+import org.apache.nifi.security.util.KeystoreType;
+import org.apache.nifi.ssl.SSLContextService;
+import org.apache.nifi.ssl.StandardRestrictedSSLContextService;
+import org.apache.nifi.util.TestRunner;
+import org.apache.nifi.util.TestRunners;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Disabled;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+/**
+ * Quick integration test for testing against Kafka cluster defined via
+ * <a href="https://github.com/confluentinc/kafka-images">confluentinc/kafka-images</a>.
+ */
+public class PublishKafkaSSLIT {
+    private static final String TEST_RECORD_VALUE = "value-" + System.currentTimeMillis();
+
+    private static final String BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS = "";
+    private static final String SSL_CONTEXT_SERVICE_PATH = "";
+    private static final String KEYSTORE_PATH = SSL_CONTEXT_SERVICE_PATH + "/kafka.producer.keystore.jks";
+    private static final String TRUSTSTORE_PATH = SSL_CONTEXT_SERVICE_PATH + "/kafka.producer.truststore.jks";
+    private static final String KEYSTORE_PASSWORD = "";
+    private static final String TRUSTSTORE_PASSWORD = "";
+
+    @Test
+    @Disabled("use this to test 'context.yield()' on misconfiguration of KafkaConnectionService; requires running Kafka cluster")
+    public void testKafkaSSLContext() throws InitializationException {
+        final TestRunner runner = TestRunners.newTestRunner(PublishKafka.class);
+        runner.setValidateExpressionUsage(false);
+        runner.setProperty(PublishKafka.CONNECTION_SERVICE, addKafkaConnectionService(runner));
+        runner.setProperty(PublishKafka.TOPIC_NAME, getClass().getName());
+
+        runner.enqueue(TEST_RECORD_VALUE);
+        runner.run();
+        runner.assertAllFlowFilesTransferred(PublishKafka.REL_SUCCESS, 1);
+    }
+
+    private String addKafkaConnectionService(final TestRunner runner) throws InitializationException {
+        final Map<String, String> connectionServiceProps = new HashMap<>();
+        connectionServiceProps.put(Kafka3ConnectionService.BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS.getName(), BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS);
+        connectionServiceProps.put(Kafka3ConnectionService.SSL_CONTEXT_SERVICE.getName(), addSSLContextService(runner));
+        connectionServiceProps.put(Kafka3ConnectionService.SECURITY_PROTOCOL.getName(), SecurityProtocol.SSL.name());
+
+        final String identifier = Kafka3ConnectionService.class.getSimpleName();
+        final KafkaConnectionService connectionService = new Kafka3ConnectionService();
+        runner.addControllerService(identifier, connectionService, connectionServiceProps);
+
+        runner.enableControllerService(connectionService);
+        return identifier;
+    }
+
+    private String addSSLContextService(final TestRunner runner) throws InitializationException {
+        final String identifier = SSLContextService.class.getSimpleName();
+        final SSLContextService service = new StandardRestrictedSSLContextService();
+        runner.addControllerService(identifier, service);
+
+        runner.setProperty(service, StandardRestrictedSSLContextService.KEYSTORE, KEYSTORE_PATH);
+        runner.setProperty(service, StandardRestrictedSSLContextService.KEYSTORE_PASSWORD, KEYSTORE_PASSWORD);
+        runner.setProperty(service, StandardRestrictedSSLContextService.KEYSTORE_TYPE, KeystoreType.JKS.name());
+        runner.setProperty(service, StandardRestrictedSSLContextService.TRUSTSTORE, TRUSTSTORE_PATH);
+        runner.setProperty(service, StandardRestrictedSSLContextService.TRUSTSTORE_PASSWORD, TRUSTSTORE_PASSWORD);
+        runner.setProperty(service, StandardRestrictedSSLContextService.TRUSTSTORE_TYPE, KeystoreType.JKS.name());
+
+        runner.enableControllerService(service);
+        return identifier;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-service/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/producer/Kafka3ProducerService.java b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-service/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/producer/Kafka3ProducerService.java
index a803df7b3647a..29e0b69889cec 100644
--- a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-service/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/producer/Kafka3ProducerService.java
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-3-service/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/producer/Kafka3ProducerService.java
@@ -53,13 +53,18 @@ public Kafka3ProducerService(final Properties properties,
         this.producer = new KafkaProducer<>(properties, serializer, serializer);
         this.serviceConfiguration = serviceConfiguration;
         this.producerConfiguration = producerConfiguration;
-        if (producerConfiguration.getUseTransactions()) {
-            producer.initTransactions();
-        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void close() {
+        producer.close();
     }
 
     @Override
     public RecordSummary send(final Iterator<KafkaRecord> kafkaRecords, final PublishContext publishContext) {
+        if (producerConfiguration.getUseTransactions()) {
+            producer.initTransactions();
+        }
         return producerConfiguration.getUseTransactions()
                 ? sendTransaction(kafkaRecords, publishContext)
                 : sendNoTransaction(kafkaRecords, publishContext);
diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-processors/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/processors/PublishKafka.java b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-processors/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/processors/PublishKafka.java
index fb759b1d32471..06ff0bca95c5d 100644
--- a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-processors/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/processors/PublishKafka.java
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-processors/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/processors/PublishKafka.java
@@ -301,8 +301,17 @@ public void onTrigger(final ProcessContext context, final ProcessSession session
         final boolean useTransactions = context.getProperty(USE_TRANSACTIONS).asBoolean();
         final String transactionalIdPrefix = context.getProperty(TRANSACTIONAL_ID_PREFIX).evaluateAttributeExpressions().getValue();
         final ProducerConfiguration producerConfiguration = new ProducerConfiguration(useTransactions, transactionalIdPrefix);
-        final KafkaProducerService producerService = connectionService.getProducerService(producerConfiguration);
 
+        try (final KafkaProducerService producerService = connectionService.getProducerService(producerConfiguration)) {
+            publishFlowFile(context, session, flowFile, producerService);
+        } catch (final Throwable e) {
+            getLogger().error(e.getMessage(), e);
+            context.yield();
+        }
+    }
+
+    private void publishFlowFile(final ProcessContext context, final ProcessSession session,
+                                 final FlowFile flowFile, final KafkaProducerService producerService) {
         final RecordReaderFactory readerFactory = context.getProperty(RECORD_READER).asControllerService(RecordReaderFactory.class);
         final RecordSetWriterFactory writerFactory = context.getProperty(RECORD_WRITER).asControllerService(RecordSetWriterFactory.class);
         final RecordSetWriterFactory keyWriterFactory = context.getProperty(RECORD_KEY_WRITER).asControllerService(RecordSetWriterFactory.class);
diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-service-api/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/api/producer/KafkaProducerService.java b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-service-api/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/api/producer/KafkaProducerService.java
index 17cc6cfdad5bf..a4ae52a728be9 100644
--- a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-service-api/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/api/producer/KafkaProducerService.java
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-service-api/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/api/producer/KafkaProducerService.java
@@ -19,12 +19,15 @@
 import org.apache.nifi.kafka.service.api.common.PartitionState;
 import org.apache.nifi.kafka.service.api.record.KafkaRecord;
 
+import java.io.Closeable;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 
-public interface KafkaProducerService {
+public interface KafkaProducerService extends Closeable {
 
     RecordSummary send(Iterator<KafkaRecord> records, PublishContext publishContext);
 
+    void close();
+
     List<PartitionState> getPartitionStates(String topic);
 }
diff --git a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-service-api/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/api/producer/ProducerRecordMetadata.java b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-service-api/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/api/producer/ProducerRecordMetadata.java
index 4f7c28be8926e..3b53141a9b1e1 100644
--- a/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-service-api/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/api/producer/ProducerRecordMetadata.java
+++ b/nifi-nar-bundles/nifi-kafka-bundle/nifi-kafka-service-api/src/main/java/org/apache/nifi/kafka/service/api/producer/ProducerRecordMetadata.java
@@ -1,3 +1,19 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
 package org.apache.nifi.kafka.service.api.producer;
 
 public class ProducerRecordMetadata {