diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fe945915..64fc9284 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,4 +5,5 @@
 *.a.*
 *.so.*
 shared/
-static/
\ No newline at end of file
+static/
+.vscode/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/include/base.h b/include/base.h
index 023d7119..e6d8b879 100644
--- a/include/base.h
+++ b/include/base.h
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  *  Base class for defining your own objects
  *
  *  @author Emiel Bruijntjes <emiel.bruijntjes@copernica.com>
- *  @copyright 2013 Copernica BV
+ *  @copyright 2013 - 2022 Copernica BV
  */
 
 /**
@@ -261,6 +261,22 @@ class PHPCPP_EXPORT Base
      */
     int __compare(const Base &base) const;
 
+    /**
+     *  Method that is called when an explicit call to $object->serialize() is made
+     *  Note that a call to serialize($object) does not end up in this function, but
+     *  is handled by the user-space implementation of Serializable::serialize()).
+     *  @return Php::Value
+     */
+    Php::Value __serialize();
+
+    /**
+     *  Method that is called when an explicit call to $object->unserialize() is made
+     *  Note that a call to unserialize($string) does not end up in this function, but
+     *  is handled by the user-space implementation of Serializable::unserialize()).
+     *  @param params       The passed parameters
+     */
+    void __unserialize(Php::Parameters &params);
+
 
 private:
     /**
diff --git a/zend/base.cpp b/zend/base.cpp
index ed6fe3bc..9f000ed8 100644
--- a/zend/base.cpp
+++ b/zend/base.cpp
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
  *
  *  Implementation file for the base of all classes
  *
- *  @copyright 2014 Copernica BV
+ *  @copyright 2014 - 2022 Copernica BV
  */
 #include "includes.h"
 
@@ -217,6 +217,51 @@ int Base::__compare(const Base &that) const
     return 1;
 }
 
+/**
+ *  Method that is called when an explicit call to $object->serialize() is made
+ *  Note that a call to serialize($object) does not end up in this function, but
+ *  is handled by the user-space implementation of Serializable::serialize()).
+ *  @return Php::Value
+ */
+Php::Value Base::__serialize()
+{
+    // 'this' refers to a Php::Base class, but we expect that is also implements the Serializable
+    // interface (otherwise we would never have registered the __serialize function as a callback)
+    auto *serializable = dynamic_cast<Serializable*>(this);
+
+    // this one should not fail
+    if (serializable == nullptr) return "";
+
+    // pass the call to the interface
+    return serializable->serialize();
+}
+
+/**
+ *  Method that is called when an explicit call to $object->unserialize() is made
+ *  Note that a call to unserialize($string) does not end up in this function, but
+ *  is handled by the user-space implementation of Serializable::unserialize()).
+ *  @param params       The passed parameters
+ */
+void Base::__unserialize(Php::Parameters &params)
+{
+    // 'this' refers to a Php::Base class, but we expect that is also implements the Serializable
+    // interface (otherwise we would never have registered the __serialize function as a callback)
+    auto *serializable = dynamic_cast<Serializable*>(this);
+
+    // this one should not fail
+    if (serializable == nullptr) return;
+
+    // the passed in parameter
+    Php::Value param = params[0];
+
+    // make sure the parameter is indeed a string
+    param.setType(Type::String);
+
+    // pass the call to the interface
+    serializable->unserialize(param.rawValue(), param.size());
+}
+
+
 /**
  *  End namespace
  */
diff --git a/zend/callable.h b/zend/callable.h
index 95f8e4ed..1334d78a 100644
--- a/zend/callable.h
+++ b/zend/callable.h
@@ -124,6 +124,11 @@ class Callable
      */
     void initialize(zend_internal_function_info *info, const char *classname = nullptr) const;
 
+    /**
+     *  Name of the function
+     *  @return const std::string&
+     */
+    const std::string &name() const { return _name; }
 
 protected:
 
diff --git a/zend/classimpl.cpp b/zend/classimpl.cpp
index 061eed69..dcf91154 100644
--- a/zend/classimpl.cpp
+++ b/zend/classimpl.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
  */
 #include "includes.h"
 #include <cstring>
+#include <algorithm>
 
 /**
  *  Set up namespace
@@ -1300,6 +1301,19 @@ int ClassImpl::unserialize(zval *object, zend_class_entry *entry, const unsigned
     return SUCCESS;
 }
 
+/**
+ *  Helper method to check if a function is registered for this instance
+ *  @param name         name of the function to check for
+ *  @return bool        Wether the function exists or not
+ */
+bool ClassImpl::hasMethod(const char* name) const
+{
+    // find the method
+    auto result = std::find_if(_methods.begin(), _methods.end(), [name](std::shared_ptr<Method> method){ return method->name() == name; });
+    // return wether its found or not
+    return result != _methods.end();
+}
+
 /**
  *  Retrieve an array of zend_function_entry objects that hold the
  *  properties for each method. This method is called at extension
@@ -1313,8 +1327,19 @@ const struct _zend_function_entry *ClassImpl::entries()
     // already initialized?
     if (_entries) return _entries;
 
+    // the number of entries that need to be allocated
+    size_t entrycount = _methods.size();
+
+    // if the class is serializable, we might need some extra methods
+    if (_base->serializable())
+    {
+        // add the serialize method if the class does not have one defined yet
+        if (!hasMethod("serialize")) entrycount += 1;
+        if (!hasMethod("unserialize")) entrycount += 1;
+    }
+
     // allocate memory for the functions
-    _entries = new zend_function_entry[_methods.size() + 1];
+    _entries = new zend_function_entry[entrycount + 1];
 
     // keep iterator counter
     int i = 0;
@@ -1329,6 +1354,19 @@ const struct _zend_function_entry *ClassImpl::entries()
         method->initialize(entry, _name);
     }
 
+    // if the class is serializable, we might need some extra methods
+    if (_base->serializable())
+    {
+        // the method objectneed to stay in scope for the lifetime of the script (because the register a pointer
+        // to an internal string buffer) -- so we create them as static variables
+        static Method serialize("serialize", &Base::__serialize, 0, {});
+        static Method unserialize("unserialize", &Base::__unserialize, 0, { ByVal("input", Type::Undefined, true) });
+
+        // register the serialize and unserialize method in case this was not yet done in PHP user space
+        if (!hasMethod("serialize")) serialize.initialize(&_entries[i++], _name);
+        if (!hasMethod("unserialize")) unserialize.initialize(&_entries[i++], _name);
+    }
+
     // last entry should be set to all zeros
     zend_function_entry *last = &_entries[i];
 
diff --git a/zend/classimpl.h b/zend/classimpl.h
index 225c3ad7..625e1910 100644
--- a/zend/classimpl.h
+++ b/zend/classimpl.h
@@ -112,6 +112,13 @@ class ClassImpl
      */
     const zend_function_entry *entries();
 
+    /**
+     *  Helper method to check if a function is registered for this instance
+     *  @param name         name of the function to check for
+     *  @return bool        Wether the function exists or not
+     */
+    bool hasMethod(const char* name) const;
+
     /**
      *  Helper method to turn a property into a zval
      *