diff --git a/protos/types.proto b/protos/types.proto
index 3c6e071c4..e2558cbe9 100644
--- a/protos/types.proto
+++ b/protos/types.proto
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ message Obj {
   Double double_data = 3;
   Tuple tuple_data = 7;
   List list_data = 4;
+  Dict dict_data = 8;
   Array array_data = 5;
   PyObj pyobj_data = 6;
 }
@@ -35,6 +36,15 @@ message Tuple {
   repeated Obj elem = 1;
 }
 
+message DictEntry {
+  Obj key = 1;
+  Obj value = 2;
+}
+
+message Dict {
+  repeated DictEntry elem = 1;
+}
+
 message Value {
   uint64 ref = 1; // for pass by reference
   Obj obj = 2; // for pass by value
diff --git a/src/orchpylib.cc b/src/orchpylib.cc
index bf11bfd2b..293e1fb79 100644
--- a/src/orchpylib.cc
+++ b/src/orchpylib.cc
@@ -179,6 +179,21 @@ int serialize(PyObject* val, Obj* obj) {
         return -1;
       }
     }
+  } else if (PyDict_Check(val)) {
+    PyObject *pykey, *pyvalue;
+    Py_ssize_t pos = 0;
+    Dict* data = obj->mutable_dict_data();
+    while (PyDict_Next(val, &pos, &pykey, &pyvalue)) {
+      DictEntry* elem = data->add_elem();
+      Obj* key = elem->mutable_key();
+      if (serialize(pykey, key) != 0) {
+        return -1;
+      }
+      Obj* value = elem->mutable_value();
+      if (serialize(pyvalue, value) != 0) {
+        return -1;
+      }
+    }
   } else if (PyString_Check(val)) {
     char* buffer;
     Py_ssize_t length;
@@ -271,6 +286,14 @@ PyObject* deserialize(const Obj& obj) {
       PyList_SetItem(list, i, deserialize(data.elem(i)));
     }
     return list;
+  } else if (obj.has_dict_data()) {
+    const Dict& data = obj.dict_data();
+    PyObject* dict = PyDict_New();
+    size_t size = data.elem_size();
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < size; ++i) {
+      PyDict_SetItem(dict, deserialize(data.elem(i).key()), deserialize(data.elem(i).value()));
+    }
+    return dict;
   } else if (obj.has_string_data()) {
     const char* buffer = obj.string_data().data().data();
     Py_ssize_t length = obj.string_data().data().size();
diff --git a/test/runtest.py b/test/runtest.py
index 47790343c..53f4e88b1 100644
--- a/test/runtest.py
+++ b/test/runtest.py
@@ -68,6 +68,9 @@ class SerializationTest(unittest.TestCase):
     self.roundTripTest(42.0)
     self.roundTripTest((1.0, "hi"))
 
+    self.roundTripTest({"hello" : "world", 1: 42, 1.0: 45})
+    self.roundTripTest({})
+
     a = np.zeros((100, 100))
     res = serialization.serialize(a)
     b = serialization.deserialize(res)