diff --git a/.chloggen/pulsar-use-configopaque.yaml b/.chloggen/pulsar-use-configopaque.yaml
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..a7ab8d4f6462
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chloggen/pulsar-use-configopaque.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+# If your change doesn't affect end users, such as a test fix or a tooling change,
+# you should instead start your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: breaking
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. filelogreceiver)
+component: receiver/pulsar
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Change the types of `Config.Authentication.Token.Token` and `Config.Authentication.Athenz.PrivateKey` to be `configopaque.String`
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+issues: [17273]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext:
diff --git a/receiver/pulsarreceiver/config.go b/receiver/pulsarreceiver/config.go
index 96ba7edd2ffe..20b799e0cd3c 100644
--- a/receiver/pulsarreceiver/config.go
+++ b/receiver/pulsarreceiver/config.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/apache/pulsar-client-go/pulsar"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configopaque"
 )
 
 type Config struct {
@@ -42,17 +43,17 @@ type TLS struct {
 }
 
 type Token struct {
-	Token string `mapstructure:"token"`
+	Token configopaque.String `mapstructure:"token"`
 }
 
 type Athenz struct {
-	ProviderDomain  string `mapstructure:"provider_domain"`
-	TenantDomain    string `mapstructure:"tenant_domain"`
-	TenantService   string `mapstructure:"tenant_service"`
-	PrivateKey      string `mapstructure:"private_key"`
-	KeyID           string `mapstructure:"key_id"`
-	PrincipalHeader string `mapstructure:"principal_header"`
-	ZtsURL          string `mapstructure:"zts_url"`
+	ProviderDomain  string              `mapstructure:"provider_domain"`
+	TenantDomain    string              `mapstructure:"tenant_domain"`
+	TenantService   string              `mapstructure:"tenant_service"`
+	PrivateKey      configopaque.String `mapstructure:"private_key"`
+	KeyID           string              `mapstructure:"key_id"`
+	PrincipalHeader string              `mapstructure:"principal_header"`
+	ZtsURL          string              `mapstructure:"zts_url"`
 }
 
 type OAuth2 struct {
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ func (cfg *Config) auth() pulsar.Authentication {
 		return pulsar.NewAuthenticationTLS(authentication.TLS.CertFile, authentication.TLS.KeyFile)
 	}
 	if authentication.Token != nil {
-		return pulsar.NewAuthenticationToken(authentication.Token.Token)
+		return pulsar.NewAuthenticationToken(string(authentication.Token.Token))
 	}
 	if authentication.OAuth2 != nil {
 		return pulsar.NewAuthenticationOAuth2(map[string]string{
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ func (cfg *Config) auth() pulsar.Authentication {
 			"providerDomain":  authentication.Athenz.ProviderDomain,
 			"tenantDomain":    authentication.Athenz.TenantDomain,
 			"tenantService":   authentication.Athenz.TenantService,
-			"privateKey":      authentication.Athenz.PrivateKey,
+			"privateKey":      string(authentication.Athenz.PrivateKey),
 			"keyId":           authentication.Athenz.KeyID,
 			"principalHeader": authentication.Athenz.PrincipalHeader,
 			"ztsUrl":          authentication.Athenz.ZtsURL,
diff --git a/receiver/pulsarreceiver/go.mod b/receiver/pulsarreceiver/go.mod
index 45f50076e000..9d800e7e9225 100644
--- a/receiver/pulsarreceiver/go.mod
+++ b/receiver/pulsarreceiver/go.mod
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/openzipkin/zipkin-go v0.4.1
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component v0.81.0
+	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configopaque v0.81.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap v0.81.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/consumer v0.81.0
 	go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pdata v1.0.0-rcv0013
diff --git a/receiver/pulsarreceiver/go.sum b/receiver/pulsarreceiver/go.sum
index 2abf485a7923..057c96fe2ddc 100644
--- a/receiver/pulsarreceiver/go.sum
+++ b/receiver/pulsarreceiver/go.sum
@@ -481,6 +481,8 @@ go.opencensus.io v0.23.0/go.mod h1:XItmlyltB5F7CS4xOC1DcqMoFqwtC6OG2xF7mCv7P7E=
 go.opentelemetry.io/collector v0.81.0 h1:pF+sB8xNXlg/W0a0QTLz4mUWyool1a9toVj8LmLoFqg=
 go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component v0.81.0 h1:AKsl6bss/SRrW248GFpmGiiI/4kdemW92Ai/X82CCqY=
 go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component v0.81.0/go.mod h1:+m6/yPiJ7O7Oc/OLfmgUB2mrY1xoUqRj4BsoOtIVpGs=
+go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configopaque v0.81.0 h1:MkCAGh0WydRWydETB9FLnuCj9hDPDiz2g4Wxnl53I0w=
+go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configopaque v0.81.0/go.mod h1:pM1oy6gasukw3H6jAvc9Q9OtFaaY2IbfeuwCPAjOgXc=
 go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configtelemetry v0.81.0 h1:j3dhWbAcrfL1n0RmShRJf99X/xIMoPfEShN/5Z8bY0k=
 go.opentelemetry.io/collector/config/configtelemetry v0.81.0/go.mod h1:KEYQRiYJdx38iZkvcLKBZWH9fK4NeafxBwGRrRKMgyA=
 go.opentelemetry.io/collector/confmap v0.81.0 h1:AqweoBGdF3jGM2/KgP5GS6bmN+1aVrEiCy4nPf7IBE4=