diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 606655d6..78d97d46 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ matrix:
       before_script:
         - rustup target add $TARGET
       script:
-        - cargo build --verbose --target $TARGET --no-default-features --features i128
+        - cargo build --verbose --target $TARGET --no-default-features --features "i128 serde"
     - name: "rustfmt"
       rust: 1.31.0
       before_script:
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 08466752..bf0b3b59 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ features = ["std"]
 optional = true
 version = "1.0"
 default-features = false
-features = ["std"]
 
 [dependencies.quickcheck]
 optional = true
@@ -64,9 +63,6 @@ optional = true
 version = "0.8"
 default-features = false
 
-[dev-dependencies.serde_test]
-version = "1.0"
-
 [features]
 default = ["std"]
 i128 = ["num-integer/i128", "num-traits/i128"]
diff --git a/ci/big_serde/Cargo.toml b/ci/big_serde/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2ed7f954
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ci/big_serde/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+[package]
+name = "big_serde"
+version = "0.1.0"
+authors = ["Josh Stone <cuviper@gmail.com>"]
+
+[dependencies]
+num-traits = "0.2.11"
+serde_test = "1.0"
+
+[dependencies.num-bigint]
+features = ["serde"]
+path = "../.."
diff --git a/tests/serde.rs b/ci/big_serde/src/lib.rs
similarity index 94%
rename from tests/serde.rs
rename to ci/big_serde/src/lib.rs
index a0251b9c..4bbb8b52 100644
--- a/tests/serde.rs
+++ b/ci/big_serde/src/lib.rs
@@ -3,8 +3,12 @@
 //! The serialized formats should not change, even if we change our
 //! internal representation, because we want to preserve forward and
 //! backward compatibility of serialized data!
+//!
+//! This test is in a completely separate crate so its `serde_test`
+//! dependency does not "infect" the rest of the build with `serde`'s
+//! default features, especially not `serde/std`.
 
-#![cfg(feature = "serde")]
+#![cfg(test)]
 
 extern crate num_bigint;
 extern crate num_traits;
diff --git a/ci/test_full.sh b/ci/test_full.sh
index 88bc4e42..c257bd89 100755
--- a/ci/test_full.sh
+++ b/ci/test_full.sh
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ esac
 
 case "$TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION" in
   1.1[5-9].* | 1.2[0-9].* | 1.3[0-5].*) ;;
-  *) NO_STD_FEATURES="i128" ;;
+  *) NO_STD_FEATURES="i128 serde" ;;
 esac
 
 # num-bigint should build and test everywhere.
@@ -54,3 +54,7 @@ fi
 if [[ "$TRAVIS_RUST_VERSION" == "nightly" ]]; then
   cargo bench --all-features --no-run
 fi
+
+case "$STD_FEATURES" in
+  *serde*) cargo test --manifest-path ci/big_serde/Cargo.toml
+esac
diff --git a/src/biguint.rs b/src/biguint.rs
index e6e2ae67..f6853fd0 100644
--- a/src/biguint.rs
+++ b/src/biguint.rs
@@ -2678,8 +2678,8 @@ fn u32_from_u128(n: u128) -> (u32, u32, u32, u32) {
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-#[cfg(not(u64_digit))]
 impl serde::Serialize for BigUint {
+    #[cfg(not(u64_digit))]
     fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
     where
         S: serde::Serializer,
@@ -2687,14 +2687,11 @@ impl serde::Serialize for BigUint {
         // Note: do not change the serialization format, or it may break forward
         // and backward compatibility of serialized data!  If we ever change the
         // internal representation, we should still serialize in base-`u32`.
-        let data: &Vec<u32> = &self.data;
+        let data: &[u32] = &self.data;
         data.serialize(serializer)
     }
-}
 
-#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-#[cfg(u64_digit)]
-impl serde::Serialize for BigUint {
+    #[cfg(u64_digit)]
     fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
     where
         S: serde::Serializer,
@@ -2722,19 +2719,6 @@ impl serde::Serialize for BigUint {
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-#[cfg(not(u64_digit))]
-impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for BigUint {
-    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
-    where
-        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
-    {
-        let data: Vec<u32> = Vec::deserialize(deserializer)?;
-        Ok(biguint_from_vec(data))
-    }
-}
-
-#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-#[cfg(u64_digit)]
 impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for BigUint {
     fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
     where
@@ -2751,6 +2735,22 @@ impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for BigUint {
                 formatter.write_str("a sequence of unsigned 32-bit numbers")
             }
 
+            #[cfg(not(u64_digit))]
+            fn visit_seq<S>(self, mut seq: S) -> Result<Self::Value, S::Error>
+            where
+                S: SeqAccess<'de>,
+            {
+                let len = seq.size_hint().unwrap_or(0);
+                let mut data = Vec::with_capacity(len);
+
+                while let Some(value) = seq.next_element::<u32>()? {
+                    data.push(value);
+                }
+
+                Ok(biguint_from_vec(data))
+            }
+
+            #[cfg(u64_digit)]
             fn visit_seq<S>(self, mut seq: S) -> Result<Self::Value, S::Error>
             where
                 S: SeqAccess<'de>,
@@ -2763,8 +2763,11 @@ impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for BigUint {
                     let mut value = BigDigit::from(lo);
                     if let Some(hi) = seq.next_element::<u32>()? {
                         value |= BigDigit::from(hi) << 32;
+                        data.push(value);
+                    } else {
+                        data.push(value);
+                        break;
                     }
-                    data.push(value);
                 }
 
                 Ok(biguint_from_vec(data))