diff --git a/src/key.rs b/src/key.rs
index 8dab98f..44d7fa7 100644
--- a/src/key.rs
+++ b/src/key.rs
@@ -187,30 +187,7 @@ impl SecretKey {
     }
 }
 
-#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-impl ::serde::Serialize for SecretKey {
-    fn serialize<S: ::serde::Serializer>(&self, s: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error> {
-        s.serialize_bytes(&self.0)
-    }
-}
-
-#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-impl<'de> ::serde::Deserialize<'de> for SecretKey {
-    fn deserialize<D: ::serde::Deserializer<'de>>(d: D) -> Result<SecretKey, D::Error> {
-        use ::serde::de::Error;
-
-        // serde can actually deserialize a 32-byte array directly rather than deserializing
-        // a byte slice and copying, but it has special code for byte-slices and no special
-        // code for byte-arrays, meaning this is actually simpler and more efficient
-        let mut arr = [0; 32];
-        let sl: &[u8] = ::serde::Deserialize::deserialize(d)?;
-        if sl.len() != constants::SECRET_KEY_SIZE {
-            return Err(D::Error::invalid_length(sl.len(), &"32"));
-        }
-        arr.copy_from_slice(sl);
-        Ok(SecretKey(arr))
-    }
-}
+serde_impl!(SecretKey, constants::SECRET_KEY_SIZE);
 
 impl PublicKey {
     /// Obtains a raw const pointer suitable for use with FFI functions
@@ -739,13 +716,16 @@ mod test {
     #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
     #[test]
     fn test_signature_serde() {
-        use serde_test::{Token, assert_tokens};
+        use serde_test::{Configure, Token, assert_tokens};
         static SK_BYTES: [u8; 32] = [
             1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1,
             0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
             0xff, 0xff, 0, 0, 0xff, 0xff, 0, 0,
             99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99, 99
         ];
+        static SK_STR: &'static str = "\
+            01010101010101010001020304050607ffff0000ffff00006363636363636363\
+        ";
         static PK_BYTES: [u8; 33] = [
             0x02,
             0x18, 0x84, 0x57, 0x81, 0xf6, 0x31, 0xc4, 0x8f,
@@ -759,7 +739,8 @@ mod test {
         let sk = SecretKey::from_slice(&SK_BYTES).unwrap();
         let pk = PublicKey::from_secret_key(&s, &sk);
 
-        assert_tokens(&sk, &[Token::BorrowedBytes(&SK_BYTES[..])]);
+        assert_tokens(&sk.compact(), &[Token::BorrowedBytes(&SK_BYTES[..])]);
+        assert_tokens(&sk.readable(), &[Token::BorrowedStr(SK_STR)]);
         assert_tokens(&pk, &[Token::BorrowedBytes(&PK_BYTES[..])]);
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/macros.rs b/src/macros.rs
index 90f9ee3..c36dc8b 100644
--- a/src/macros.rs
+++ b/src/macros.rs
@@ -158,3 +158,47 @@ macro_rules! impl_raw_debug {
         }
      }
 }
+
+#[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) => ()
+);