diff --git a/bindings/azure/cosmosdb/cosmosdb.go b/bindings/azure/cosmosdb/cosmosdb.go
index 4386c44f8a..7577d6a223 100644
--- a/bindings/azure/cosmosdb/cosmosdb.go
+++ b/bindings/azure/cosmosdb/cosmosdb.go
@@ -68,6 +68,10 @@ func (c *CosmosDB) Init(metadata bindings.Metadata) error {
 		}
 		config = documentdb.NewConfigWithServicePrincipal(spt)
 	}
+	// disable the identification hydrator (which autogenerates IDs if missing from the request)
+	// so we aren't forced to use a struct by the upstream SDK
+	// this allows us to provide the most flexibility in the request document sent to this binding
+	config.IdentificationHydrator = nil
 	client := documentdb.New(m.URL, config)
 
 	dbs, err := client.QueryDatabases(&documentdb.Query{
@@ -122,23 +126,28 @@ func (c *CosmosDB) Operations() []bindings.OperationKind {
 }
 
 func (c *CosmosDB) Invoke(req *bindings.InvokeRequest) (*bindings.InvokeResponse, error) {
-	var obj interface{}
-	err := json.Unmarshal(req.Data, &obj)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
+	switch req.Operation {
+	case bindings.CreateOperation:
+		var obj interface{}
+		err := json.Unmarshal(req.Data, &obj)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 
-	val, err := c.getPartitionKeyValue(c.partitionKey, obj)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
+		val, err := c.getPartitionKeyValue(c.partitionKey, obj)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 
-	_, err = c.client.CreateDocument(c.collection.Self, obj, documentdb.PartitionKey(val))
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
+		_, err = c.client.CreateDocument(c.collection.Self, obj, documentdb.PartitionKey(val))
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
 
-	return nil, nil
+		return nil, nil
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("operation kind %s not supported", req.Operation)
+	}
 }
 
 func (c *CosmosDB) getPartitionKeyValue(key string, obj interface{}) (interface{}, error) {
diff --git a/tests/config/bindings/azure/cosmosdb/bindings.yml b/tests/config/bindings/azure/cosmosdb/bindings.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..620017f3bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/config/bindings/azure/cosmosdb/bindings.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+apiVersion: dapr.io/v1alpha1
+kind: Component
+metadata:
+  name: azure-cosmosdb-binding
+  namespace: default
+spec:
+  type: bindings.azure.cosmosdb
+  version: v1
+  metadata:
+  - name: url
+    value: ${{AzureCosmosDBUrl}}
+  - name: masterKey
+    value: ${{AzureCosmosDBMasterKey}}
+  - name: database
+    value: ${{AzureCosmosDB}}
+  - name: collection
+    value: ${{AzureCosmosDBCollection}}
+  - name: partitionKey
+    value: partitionKey
diff --git a/tests/config/bindings/tests.yml b/tests/config/bindings/tests.yml
index 08e6bc6ff1..f60a5dc90a 100644
--- a/tests/config/bindings/tests.yml
+++ b/tests/config/bindings/tests.yml
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ components:
     config:
       output:
         blobName: $((uuid))
+  - component: azure.cosmosdb
+    operations: ["create", "operations"]
+    config:
+      outputData: '{"id": "$((uuid))", "orderid": "abcdef-test", "partitionKey": "partitionValue", "nestedproperty": {"subproperty": "something of value for testing"}, "description": "conformance test item"}'
   - component: azure.eventhubs
     operations: ["create", "operations", "read"]
   - component: azure.eventgrid
diff --git a/tests/conformance/common.go b/tests/conformance/common.go
index 36f45bbba8..e8aa5e7c4e 100644
--- a/tests/conformance/common.go
+++ b/tests/conformance/common.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 package conformance
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/dapr/kit/logger"
 
 	b_azure_blobstorage "github.com/dapr/components-contrib/bindings/azure/blobstorage"
+	b_azure_cosmosdb "github.com/dapr/components-contrib/bindings/azure/cosmosdb"
 	b_azure_eventgrid "github.com/dapr/components-contrib/bindings/azure/eventgrid"
 	b_azure_eventhubs "github.com/dapr/components-contrib/bindings/azure/eventhubs"
 	b_azure_servicebusqueues "github.com/dapr/components-contrib/bindings/azure/servicebusqueues"
@@ -131,6 +133,16 @@ func ParseConfigurationMap(t *testing.T, configMap map[string]interface{}) {
 				val = uuid.New().String()
 				t.Logf("Generated UUID %s", val)
 				configMap[k] = val
+			} else {
+				jsonMap := make(map[string]interface{})
+				err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(val), &jsonMap)
+				if err == nil {
+					ParseConfigurationMap(t, jsonMap)
+					mapBytes, err := json.Marshal(jsonMap)
+					if err == nil {
+						configMap[k] = string(mapBytes)
+					}
+				}
 			}
 		case map[string]interface{}:
 			ParseConfigurationMap(t, val)
@@ -149,6 +161,16 @@ func parseConfigurationInterfaceMap(t *testing.T, configMap map[interface{}]inte
 				val = uuid.New().String()
 				t.Logf("Generated UUID %s", val)
 				configMap[k] = val
+			} else {
+				jsonMap := make(map[string]interface{})
+				err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(val), &jsonMap)
+				if err == nil {
+					ParseConfigurationMap(t, jsonMap)
+					mapBytes, err := json.Marshal(jsonMap)
+					if err == nil {
+						configMap[k] = string(mapBytes)
+					}
+				}
 			}
 		case map[string]interface{}:
 			ParseConfigurationMap(t, val)
@@ -405,6 +427,8 @@ func loadOutputBindings(tc TestComponent) bindings.OutputBinding {
 		binding = b_azure_eventgrid.NewAzureEventGrid(testLogger)
 	case eventhubs:
 		binding = b_azure_eventhubs.NewAzureEventHubs(testLogger)
+	case "azure.cosmosdb":
+		binding = b_azure_cosmosdb.NewCosmosDB(testLogger)
 	case kafka:
 		binding = b_kafka.NewKafka(testLogger)
 	case "http":
diff --git a/tests/conformance/common_test.go b/tests/conformance/common_test.go
index 585f4e2c17..189e633b75 100644
--- a/tests/conformance/common_test.go
+++ b/tests/conformance/common_test.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 package conformance
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"os"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -104,15 +105,26 @@ func TestConvertMetadataToProperties(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestParseConfigurationMap(t *testing.T) {
 	testMap := map[string]interface{}{
-		"key":  "$((uuid))",
-		"blob": "testblob",
+		"key":       "$((uuid))",
+		"blob":      "testblob",
+		"mapString": `{"nestedkey": "$((uuid))", "somethingtested": "somevalue"}`,
+		"map": map[string]interface{}{
+			"nestedkey": "$((uuid))",
+		},
 	}
 
 	ParseConfigurationMap(t, testMap)
-	assert.Equal(t, 2, len(testMap))
+	assert.Equal(t, 4, len(testMap))
 	assert.Equal(t, "testblob", testMap["blob"])
 	_, err := uuid.ParseBytes([]byte(testMap["key"].(string)))
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	var nestedMap map[string]interface{}
+	json.Unmarshal([]byte(testMap["mapString"].(string)), &nestedMap)
+	_, err = uuid.ParseBytes([]byte(nestedMap["nestedkey"].(string)))
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	_, err = uuid.ParseBytes([]byte(testMap["map"].(map[string]interface{})["nestedkey"].(string)))
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
 }
 
 func TestConvertComponentNameToPath(t *testing.T) {