diff --git a/src/ecdh.rs b/src/ecdh.rs
index 394abe349..b72d6b75e 100644
--- a/src/ecdh.rs
+++ b/src/ecdh.rs
@@ -167,7 +167,6 @@ mod tests {
     use rand::thread_rng;
     use super::SharedSecret;
     use super::super::Secp256k1;
-    use Error;
 
     #[test]
     fn ecdh() {
@@ -187,7 +186,7 @@ mod tests {
         let s = Secp256k1::signing_only();
         let (sk1, pk1) = s.generate_keypair(&mut thread_rng());
         let (sk2, pk2) = s.generate_keypair(&mut thread_rng());
-        
+
         let sec1 = SharedSecret::new_with_hash(&pk1, &sk2, |x,_| x.into());
         let sec2 = SharedSecret::new_with_hash(&pk2, &sk1, |x,_| x.into());
         let sec_odd = SharedSecret::new_with_hash(&pk1, &sk1, |x,_| x.into());
diff --git a/src/key.rs b/src/key.rs
index ba1d22177..ce25da96e 100644
--- a/src/key.rs
+++ b/src/key.rs
@@ -199,7 +199,34 @@ impl SecretKey {
     }
 }
 
-serde_impl!(SecretKey, constants::SECRET_KEY_SIZE);
+
+#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
+impl ::serde::Serialize for SecretKey {
+    fn serialize<S: ::serde::Serializer>(&self, s: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error> {
+        if s.is_human_readable() {
+            s.collect_str(self)
+        } else {
+            s.serialize_bytes(&self[..])
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
+impl<'de> ::serde::Deserialize<'de> for SecretKey {
+    fn deserialize<D: ::serde::Deserializer<'de>>(d: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error> {
+        if d.is_human_readable() {
+            d.deserialize_str(super::serde_util::HexVisitor::new(
+                "a hex string representing 32 byte SecretKey"
+            ))
+        } else {
+            d.deserialize_bytes(super::serde_util::BytesVisitor::new(
+                "raw 32 bytes SecretKey",
+                SecretKey::from_slice
+            ))
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 
 impl PublicKey {
     /// Obtains a raw const pointer suitable for use with FFI functions
@@ -392,53 +419,14 @@ impl ::serde::Serialize for PublicKey {
 impl<'de> ::serde::Deserialize<'de> for PublicKey {
     fn deserialize<D: ::serde::Deserializer<'de>>(d: D) -> Result<PublicKey, D::Error> {
         if d.is_human_readable() {
-            struct HexVisitor;
-
-            impl<'de> ::serde::de::Visitor<'de> for HexVisitor {
-                type Value = PublicKey;
-
-                fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
-                    formatter.write_str("an ASCII hex string")
-                }
-
-                fn visit_bytes<E>(self, v: &[u8]) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
-                where
-                    E: ::serde::de::Error,
-                {
-                    if let Ok(hex) = str::from_utf8(v) {
-                        str::FromStr::from_str(hex).map_err(E::custom)
-                    } else {
-                        Err(E::invalid_value(::serde::de::Unexpected::Bytes(v), &self))
-                    }
-                }
-
-                fn visit_str<E>(self, v: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
-                where
-                    E: ::serde::de::Error,
-                {
-                    str::FromStr::from_str(v).map_err(E::custom)
-                }
-            }
-            d.deserialize_str(HexVisitor)
+            d.deserialize_str(super::serde_util::HexVisitor::new(
+                "an ASCII hex string representing a public key"
+            ))
         } else {
-            struct BytesVisitor;
-
-            impl<'de> ::serde::de::Visitor<'de> for BytesVisitor {
-                type Value = PublicKey;
-
-                fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
-                    formatter.write_str("a bytestring")
-                }
-
-                fn visit_bytes<E>(self, v: &[u8]) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
-                where
-                    E: ::serde::de::Error,
-                {
-                    PublicKey::from_slice(v).map_err(E::custom)
-                }
-            }
-
-            d.deserialize_bytes(BytesVisitor)
+            d.deserialize_bytes(super::serde_util::BytesVisitor::new(
+                "a bytestring representing a public key",
+                PublicKey::from_slice
+            ))
         }
     }
 }
@@ -848,8 +836,20 @@ mod test {
         let pk = PublicKey::from_secret_key(&s, &sk);
 
         assert_tokens(&sk.compact(), &[Token::BorrowedBytes(&SK_BYTES[..])]);
+        assert_tokens(&sk.compact(), &[Token::Bytes(&SK_BYTES)]);
+        assert_tokens(&sk.compact(), &[Token::ByteBuf(&SK_BYTES)]);
+
         assert_tokens(&sk.readable(), &[Token::BorrowedStr(SK_STR)]);
+        assert_tokens(&sk.readable(), &[Token::Str(SK_STR)]);
+        assert_tokens(&sk.readable(), &[Token::String(SK_STR)]);
+
         assert_tokens(&pk.compact(), &[Token::BorrowedBytes(&PK_BYTES[..])]);
+        assert_tokens(&pk.compact(), &[Token::Bytes(&PK_BYTES)]);
+        assert_tokens(&pk.compact(), &[Token::ByteBuf(&PK_BYTES)]);
+
         assert_tokens(&pk.readable(), &[Token::BorrowedStr(PK_STR)]);
+        assert_tokens(&pk.readable(), &[Token::Str(PK_STR)]);
+        assert_tokens(&pk.readable(), &[Token::String(PK_STR)]);
+
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 92c9a91dc..64c5c5095 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -165,6 +165,8 @@ pub mod ecdh;
 pub mod key;
 #[cfg(feature = "recovery")]
 pub mod recovery;
+#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
+mod serde_util;
 
 pub use key::SecretKey;
 pub use key::PublicKey;
@@ -432,15 +434,16 @@ impl ::serde::Serialize for Signature {
 
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
 impl<'de> ::serde::Deserialize<'de> for Signature {
-    fn deserialize<D: ::serde::Deserializer<'de>>(d: D) -> Result<Signature, D::Error> {
-        use ::serde::de::Error;
-        use str::FromStr;
+    fn deserialize<D: ::serde::Deserializer<'de>>(d: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error> {
         if d.is_human_readable() {
-            let sl: &str = ::serde::Deserialize::deserialize(d)?;
-            Signature::from_str(sl).map_err(D::Error::custom)
+            d.deserialize_str(serde_util::HexVisitor::new(
+                "a hex string representing a DER encoded Signature"
+            ))
         } else {
-            let sl: &[u8] = ::serde::Deserialize::deserialize(d)?;
-            Signature::from_der(sl).map_err(D::Error::custom)
+            d.deserialize_bytes(serde_util::BytesVisitor::new(
+                "raw byte stream, that represents a DER encoded Signature",
+                Signature::from_der
+            ))
         }
     }
 }
@@ -1081,7 +1084,13 @@ mod tests {
         ";
 
         assert_tokens(&sig.compact(), &[Token::BorrowedBytes(&SIG_BYTES[..])]);
+        assert_tokens(&sig.compact(), &[Token::Bytes(&SIG_BYTES)]);
+        assert_tokens(&sig.compact(), &[Token::ByteBuf(&SIG_BYTES)]);
+
         assert_tokens(&sig.readable(), &[Token::BorrowedStr(SIG_STR)]);
+        assert_tokens(&sig.readable(), &[Token::Str(SIG_STR)]);
+        assert_tokens(&sig.readable(), &[Token::String(SIG_STR)]);
+
     }
 
     // For WASM, just run through our general tests in this file all at once.
diff --git a/src/macros.rs b/src/macros.rs
index 9cf9ba6d3..bfd41b7bb 100644
--- a/src/macros.rs
+++ b/src/macros.rs
@@ -43,47 +43,3 @@ macro_rules! impl_from_array_len {
         )+
     }
 }
-
-#[cfg(feature="serde")]
-/// Implements `Serialize` and `Deserialize` for a type `$t` which represents
-/// a newtype over a byte-slice over length `$len`. Type `$t` must implement
-/// the `FromStr` and `Display` trait.
-macro_rules! serde_impl(
-    ($t:ident, $len:expr) => (
-        impl ::serde::Serialize for $t {
-            fn serialize<S: ::serde::Serializer>(&self, s: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error> {
-                if s.is_human_readable() {
-                    s.collect_str(self)
-                } else {
-                    s.serialize_bytes(&self[..])
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
-        impl<'de> ::serde::Deserialize<'de> for $t {
-            fn deserialize<D: ::serde::Deserializer<'de>>(d: D) -> Result<$t, D::Error> {
-                use ::serde::de::Error;
-                use core::str::FromStr;
-
-                if d.is_human_readable() {
-                    let sl: &str = ::serde::Deserialize::deserialize(d)?;
-                    SecretKey::from_str(sl).map_err(D::Error::custom)
-                } else {
-                    let sl: &[u8] = ::serde::Deserialize::deserialize(d)?;
-                    if sl.len() != $len {
-                        Err(D::Error::invalid_length(sl.len(), &stringify!($len)))
-                    } else {
-                        let mut ret = [0; $len];
-                        ret.copy_from_slice(sl);
-                        Ok($t(ret))
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        }
-    )
-);
-
-#[cfg(not(feature="serde"))]
-macro_rules! serde_impl(
-    ($t:ident, $len:expr) => ()
-);
diff --git a/src/serde_util.rs b/src/serde_util.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..50344167f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/serde_util.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+use core::fmt;
+use core::marker::PhantomData;
+use core::str::{self, FromStr};
+use serde::de;
+
+pub struct HexVisitor<T> {
+    expectation: &'static str,
+    _pd: PhantomData<T>,
+}
+
+impl<T> HexVisitor<T> {
+    pub fn new(expectation: &'static str) -> Self {
+        HexVisitor {
+            expectation,
+            _pd: PhantomData,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de, T> de::Visitor<'de> for HexVisitor<T>
+where
+    T: FromStr,
+    <T as FromStr>::Err: fmt::Display,
+{
+    type Value = T;
+
+    fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        formatter.write_str(self.expectation)
+    }
+
+    fn visit_bytes<E: de::Error>(self, v: &[u8]) -> Result<Self::Value, E> {
+        if let Ok(hex) = str::from_utf8(v) {
+            FromStr::from_str(hex).map_err(E::custom)
+        } else {
+            Err(E::invalid_value(de::Unexpected::Bytes(v), &self))
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn visit_str<E: de::Error>(self, v: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E> {
+        FromStr::from_str(v).map_err(E::custom)
+    }
+}
+
+pub struct BytesVisitor<F> {
+    expectation: &'static str,
+    parse_fn: F,
+}
+
+impl<F, T, Err> BytesVisitor<F>
+where
+    F: FnOnce(&[u8]) -> Result<T, Err>,
+    Err: fmt::Display,
+{
+    pub fn new(expectation: &'static str, parse_fn: F) -> Self {
+        BytesVisitor {
+            expectation,
+            parse_fn,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de, F, T, Err> de::Visitor<'de> for BytesVisitor<F>
+where
+    F: FnOnce(&[u8]) -> Result<T, Err>,
+    Err: fmt::Display,
+{
+    type Value = T;
+
+    fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
+        formatter.write_str(self.expectation)
+    }
+
+    fn visit_bytes<E: de::Error>(self, v: &[u8]) -> Result<Self::Value, E> {
+        (self.parse_fn)(v).map_err(E::custom)
+    }
+}