diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a8580ca7..c5ea2b1d 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -3,4 +3,10 @@ target/
 .*.swp
 *~
 .settings
-build/
\ No newline at end of file
+build/
+out/
+.classpath
+.project
+*.iml
+*.ipr
+*.iws
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 07fd53a3..5b732fda 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ dependencies {
     compile group: 'org.slf4j', name: 'slf4j-api', version:'1.7.5'
     runtime group: 'org.slf4j', name: 'slf4j-simple', version:'1.7.5'
     testCompile group: 'junit', name: 'junit', version:'4.11'
+    testCompile group: 'de.ruedigermoeller', name: 'fst', version: '2.55'
 }
 
 task sourceJar(type: Jar) {
diff --git a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
index ee6500a5..ddb30844 100644
--- a/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
+++ b/gradle/wrapper/gradle-wrapper.properties
@@ -3,4 +3,4 @@ distributionBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 distributionPath=wrapper/dists
 zipStoreBase=GRADLE_USER_HOME
 zipStorePath=wrapper/dists
-distributionUrl=https\://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-2.10-bin.zip
+distributionUrl=https://services.gradle.org/distributions/gradle-4.1-bin.zip
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/palantir/ptoss/cinch/core/DefaultBindableModel.java b/src/main/java/com/palantir/ptoss/cinch/core/DefaultBindableModel.java
index f3ed97e1..89cd5258 100755
--- a/src/main/java/com/palantir/ptoss/cinch/core/DefaultBindableModel.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/palantir/ptoss/cinch/core/DefaultBindableModel.java
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
 //   limitations under the License.
 package com.palantir.ptoss.cinch.core;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.concurrent.CopyOnWriteArrayList;
 
@@ -21,7 +23,13 @@
  */
 public class DefaultBindableModel implements BindableModel {
 
-    private final List<Binding> bindings = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<Binding>();
+    // must be transient because Bindings aren't serializable, and
+    // subclasses might be serialized.
+    private transient List<Binding> bindings;
+
+    public DefaultBindableModel() {
+        bindings = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<Binding>();
+    }
 
     /**
      * {@inheritDoc}
@@ -62,4 +70,9 @@ public void update() {
         this.modelUpdated(ModelUpdates.UNSPECIFIED);
     }
 
+    private void readObject(ObjectInputStream in) throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
+        in.defaultReadObject();
+        bindings = new CopyOnWriteArrayList<Binding>();
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/palantir/ptoss/cinch/SerializableBindableModel.java b/src/test/java/com/palantir/ptoss/cinch/SerializableBindableModel.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..274458ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/palantir/ptoss/cinch/SerializableBindableModel.java
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package com.palantir.ptoss.cinch;
+
+import com.palantir.ptoss.cinch.core.DefaultBindableModel;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+public class SerializableBindableModel extends DefaultBindableModel implements Serializable {
+
+    private final String data;
+
+    public SerializableBindableModel(String data) {
+        super();
+        this.data = data;
+    }
+
+    public String getData() {
+        return data;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return "SerializableBindableModel{" +
+                "data='" + data + '\'' +
+                '}';
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean equals(Object o) {
+        if (this == o) return true;
+        if (o == null || getClass() != o.getClass()) return false;
+
+        SerializableBindableModel that = (SerializableBindableModel) o;
+
+        return data != null ? data.equals(that.data) : that.data == null;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int hashCode() {
+        return data != null ? data.hashCode() : 0;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/palantir/ptoss/cinch/SerializableModelTest.java b/src/test/java/com/palantir/ptoss/cinch/SerializableModelTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..733b5cfe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/palantir/ptoss/cinch/SerializableModelTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+package com.palantir.ptoss.cinch;
+
+import com.palantir.ptoss.cinch.core.Binding;
+import com.palantir.ptoss.cinch.core.ModelUpdate;
+import org.apache.commons.lang.SerializationUtils;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.nustaq.serialization.FSTConfiguration;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+public class SerializableModelTest {
+
+    private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(SerializableModelTest.class);
+    private static FSTConfiguration conf = FSTConfiguration.createDefaultConfiguration();
+
+    private final Binding testBinding = new Binding() {
+        @Override
+        public <T extends Enum<?> & ModelUpdate> void update(T... changed) {
+            log.info("Ran update");
+        }
+    };
+
+    @Test
+    public void testJavaSerialize() {
+        SerializableBindableModel model = new SerializableBindableModel("testing");
+        javaRoundTrip(model);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testJavaSerializeWithBinding() {
+        SerializableBindableModel model = new SerializableBindableModel("testing");
+        model.bind(testBinding);
+        model.update();
+        SerializableBindableModel rehydrated = javaRoundTrip(model);
+        rehydrated.bind(testBinding);
+        rehydrated.update();
+    }
+
+    private SerializableBindableModel javaRoundTrip(SerializableBindableModel model) {
+        SerializableBindableModel rehydrated = (SerializableBindableModel) SerializationUtils.clone(model);
+        Assert.assertEquals(model, rehydrated);
+        return rehydrated;
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testFstSerialize() {
+        SerializableBindableModel model = new SerializableBindableModel("testing");
+        fstRoundTrip(model);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testFstSerializeWithBinding() {
+        SerializableBindableModel model = new SerializableBindableModel("testing");
+        model.bind(testBinding);
+        model.update();
+        SerializableBindableModel rehydrated = fstRoundTrip(model);
+        rehydrated.bind(testBinding);
+        rehydrated.update();
+    }
+
+    private SerializableBindableModel fstRoundTrip(SerializableBindableModel model) {
+        byte[] bytes = conf.asByteArray(model);
+        SerializableBindableModel rehydrated = (SerializableBindableModel)conf.asObject(bytes);
+        Assert.assertEquals(model, rehydrated);
+        return rehydrated;
+    }
+}