diff --git a/swh/objstorage/replayer/cli.py b/swh/objstorage/replayer/cli.py
--- a/swh/objstorage/replayer/cli.py
+++ b/swh/objstorage/replayer/cli.py
@@ -100,11 +100,10 @@
     else:
         exclude_fn = None
 
+    journal_cfg = conf["journal_client"]
+    journal_cfg.setdefault("cls", "kafka")
     client = get_journal_client(
-        "kafka",
-        **conf["journal_client"],
-        stop_after_objects=stop_after_objects,
-        object_types=("content",),
+        **journal_cfg, stop_after_objects=stop_after_objects, object_types=("content",),
     )
     worker_fn = functools.partial(
         process_replay_objects_content,