diff --git a/cpp/src/numbuf/dict.cc b/cpp/src/numbuf/dict.cc
index ff5f7239f..14bf7f2f3 100644
--- a/cpp/src/numbuf/dict.cc
+++ b/cpp/src/numbuf/dict.cc
@@ -5,12 +5,13 @@ using namespace arrow;
 namespace numbuf {
 
 std::shared_ptr<arrow::StructArray> DictBuilder::Finish(
+    std::shared_ptr<Array> key_tuple_data,
     std::shared_ptr<Array> list_data,
     std::shared_ptr<Array> tuple_data,
     std::shared_ptr<Array> dict_data) {
   // lists and dicts can't be keys of dicts in Python, that is why for
   // the keys we do not need to collect sublists
-  auto keys = keys_.Finish(nullptr, nullptr, nullptr);
+  auto keys = keys_.Finish(nullptr, key_tuple_data, nullptr);
   auto vals = vals_.Finish(list_data, tuple_data, dict_data);
   auto keys_field = std::make_shared<Field>("keys", keys->type());
   auto vals_field = std::make_shared<Field>("vals", vals->type());
diff --git a/cpp/src/numbuf/dict.h b/cpp/src/numbuf/dict.h
index 5c2abeacd..02eb6035d 100644
--- a/cpp/src/numbuf/dict.h
+++ b/cpp/src/numbuf/dict.h
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ public:
         value list of the dictionary
   */
   std::shared_ptr<arrow::StructArray> Finish(
+    std::shared_ptr<arrow::Array> key_tuple_data,
     std::shared_ptr<arrow::Array> list_data,
     std::shared_ptr<arrow::Array> tuple_data,
     std::shared_ptr<arrow::Array> dict_data);
diff --git a/python/src/pynumbuf/adapters/python.cc b/python/src/pynumbuf/adapters/python.cc
index 790fd5497..871e0e097 100644
--- a/python/src/pynumbuf/adapters/python.cc
+++ b/python/src/pynumbuf/adapters/python.cc
@@ -171,16 +171,20 @@ Status DeserializeTuple(std::shared_ptr<Array> array, int32_t start_idx, int32_t
 
 Status SerializeDict(std::vector<PyObject*> dicts, std::shared_ptr<Array>* out) {
   DictBuilder result;
-  std::vector<PyObject*> sublists, subtuples, subdicts, dummy;
+  std::vector<PyObject*> sublists, subtuples, subdicts, keytuples, dummy;
   for (const auto& dict : dicts) {
     PyObject *key, *value;
     Py_ssize_t pos = 0;
     while (PyDict_Next(dict, &pos, &key, &value)) {
-      RETURN_NOT_OK(append(key, result.keys(), dummy, dummy, dummy));
+      RETURN_NOT_OK(append(key, result.keys(), dummy, keytuples, dummy));
       DCHECK(dummy.size() == 0);
       RETURN_NOT_OK(append(value, result.vals(), sublists, subtuples, subdicts));
     }
   }
+  std::shared_ptr<Array> key_val_tuples;
+  if (keytuples.size() > 0) {
+    RETURN_NOT_OK(SerializeSequences(keytuples, &key_val_tuples));
+  }
   std::shared_ptr<Array> val_list;
   if (sublists.size() > 0) {
     RETURN_NOT_OK(SerializeSequences(sublists, &val_list));
@@ -193,7 +197,7 @@ Status SerializeDict(std::vector<PyObject*> dicts, std::shared_ptr<Array>* out)
   if (subdicts.size() > 0) {
     RETURN_NOT_OK(SerializeDict(subdicts, &val_dict));
   }
-  *out = result.Finish(val_list, val_tuples, val_dict);
+  *out = result.Finish(key_val_tuples, val_list, val_tuples, val_dict);
   return Status::OK();
 }
 
diff --git a/python/test/runtest.py b/python/test/runtest.py
index 1bb4addba..f8966b5ef 100644
--- a/python/test/runtest.py
+++ b/python/test/runtest.py
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@ import libnumbuf
 import numpy as np
 from numpy.testing import assert_equal
 
-TEST_OBJECTS = [[1, "hello", 3.0], 42, 43L, "hello world", u"x", u"\u262F",
-                42.0, 1L << 62, (1.0, "hi"),
+TEST_OBJECTS = [{(1,2) : 1}, {() : 2}, [1, "hello", 3.0], 42, 43L, "hello world", 
+                u"x", u"\u262F", 42.0, 
+                1L << 62, (1.0, "hi"),
                 None, (None, None), ("hello", None),
                 True, False, (True, False), "hello",
                 {True: "hello", False: "world"},