diff --git a/zcash_primitives/src/serialize.rs b/zcash_primitives/src/serialize.rs
index f142943..8312312 100644
--- a/zcash_primitives/src/serialize.rs
+++ b/zcash_primitives/src/serialize.rs
@@ -82,6 +82,37 @@ impl Vector {
     }
 }
 
+pub struct Optional;
+
+impl Optional {
+    pub fn read<R: Read, T, F>(mut reader: R, func: F) -> io::Result<Option<T>>
+    where
+        F: Fn(&mut R) -> io::Result<T>,
+    {
+        match reader.read_u8()? {
+            0 => Ok(None),
+            1 => Ok(Some(func(&mut reader)?)),
+            _ => Err(io::Error::new(
+                io::ErrorKind::InvalidInput,
+                "non-canonical Option<T>",
+            )),
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn write<W: Write, T, F>(mut writer: W, val: &Option<T>, func: F) -> io::Result<()>
+    where
+        F: Fn(&mut W, &T) -> io::Result<()>,
+    {
+        match val {
+            None => writer.write_u8(0),
+            Some(e) => {
+                writer.write_u8(1)?;
+                func(&mut writer, e)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -153,4 +184,46 @@ mod tests {
             eval!(vec![7; 260], expected);
         }
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn optional() {
+        macro_rules! eval {
+            ($value:expr, $expected:expr, $write:expr, $read:expr) => {
+                let mut data = vec![];
+                Optional::write(&mut data, &$value, $write).unwrap();
+                assert_eq!(&data[..], &$expected[..]);
+                match Optional::read(&data[..], $read) {
+                    Ok(v) => assert_eq!(v, $value),
+                    Err(e) => panic!("Unexpected error: {:?}", e),
+                }
+            };
+        }
+
+        macro_rules! eval_u8 {
+            ($value:expr, $expected:expr) => {
+                eval!($value, $expected, |w, e| w.write_u8(*e), |r| r.read_u8())
+            };
+        }
+
+        macro_rules! eval_vec {
+            ($value:expr, $expected:expr) => {
+                eval!(
+                    $value,
+                    $expected,
+                    |w, v| Vector::write(w, v, |w, e| w.write_u8(*e)),
+                    |r| Vector::read(r, |r| r.read_u8())
+                )
+            };
+        }
+
+        eval_u8!(None, [0]);
+        eval_u8!(Some(0), [1, 0]);
+        eval_u8!(Some(1), [1, 1]);
+        eval_u8!(Some(5), [1, 5]);
+
+        eval_vec!(Some(vec![]), [1, 0]);
+        eval_vec!(Some(vec![0]), [1, 1, 0]);
+        eval_vec!(Some(vec![1]), [1, 1, 1]);
+        eval_vec!(Some(vec![5; 8]), [1, 8, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5]);
+    }
 }