diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 263d4bb1..c6345f0f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ version = "1.0.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "cdb031dd78e28731d87d56cc8ffef4a8f36ca26c38fe2de700543e627f8a464a"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "base16ct"
+version = "0.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "349a06037c7bf932dd7e7d1f653678b2038b9ad46a74102f1fc7bd7872678cce"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bincode"
 version = "1.3.3"
@@ -70,8 +76,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "rand_chacha",
  "rand_core",
  "rlp",
- "serde",
- "serde-big-array",
+ "serdect",
  "subtle",
  "zeroize",
 ]
@@ -303,11 +308,12 @@ source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "ce31e24b01e1e524df96f1c2fdd054405f8d7376249a5110886fb4b658484789"
 
 [[package]]
-name = "serde-big-array"
-version = "0.4.0"
+name = "serdect"
+version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "01890a6856e9a7fbb42f3bc847957b61aeaf024fe99f6abc76d137ed1799dc80"
+checksum = "038fce1bf4d74b9b30ea7dcd59df75ba8ec669a5dcb3cc64fbfcef7334ced32c"
 dependencies = [
+ "base16ct",
  "serde",
 ]
 
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 813821be..c547d017 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ der = { version = "=0.6.0-pre.3", optional = true, default-features = false }
 generic-array = { version = "0.14", optional = true }
 rand_core = { version = "0.6", optional = true }
 rlp = { version = "0.5", optional = true, default-features = false }
-serde_ = { version = "1", package = "serde", optional = true, default-features = false }
-serde-big-array = { version = "0.4", optional = true }
+serdect = { version = "0.1", optional = true, default-features = false }
 zeroize = { version = "1", optional = true,  default-features = false }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
@@ -41,7 +40,7 @@ rand_chacha = "0.3"
 default = ["rand"]
 alloc = []
 rand = ["rand_core/std"]
-serde = ["serde_", "serde-big-array"]
+serde = ["serdect"]
 
 [package.metadata.docs.rs]
 all-features = true
diff --git a/src/checked.rs b/src/checked.rs
index 4d2a2df8..e02317e3 100644
--- a/src/checked.rs
+++ b/src/checked.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 use subtle::{Choice, ConditionallySelectable, ConstantTimeEq, CtOption};
 
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer};
+use serdect::serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer};
 
 /// Provides intentionally-checked arithmetic on `T`.
 ///
@@ -68,11 +68,8 @@ impl<'de, T: Default + Deserialize<'de>> Deserialize<'de> for Checked<T> {
         D: Deserializer<'de>,
     {
         let value = Option::<T>::deserialize(deserializer)?;
-
-        Ok(Self(match value {
-            Some(value) => CtOption::new(value, Choice::from(1)),
-            None => CtOption::new(T::default(), Choice::from(0)),
-        }))
+        let choice = Choice::from(value.is_some() as u8);
+        Ok(Self(CtOption::new(value.unwrap_or_default(), choice)))
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 7abbd95f..dfb129db 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -141,9 +141,6 @@
 #[cfg(all(feature = "alloc", test))]
 extern crate alloc;
 
-#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-extern crate serde_ as serde;
-
 #[macro_use]
 mod nlimbs;
 
diff --git a/src/limb.rs b/src/limb.rs
index 396b3680..a827812f 100644
--- a/src/limb.rs
+++ b/src/limb.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ use core::fmt;
 use subtle::{Choice, ConditionallySelectable};
 
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer};
+use serdect::serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer};
 
 #[cfg(not(any(target_pointer_width = "32", target_pointer_width = "64")))]
 compile_error!("this crate builds on 32-bit and 64-bit platforms only");
diff --git a/src/non_zero.rs b/src/non_zero.rs
index b062ce17..fc3c9a84 100644
--- a/src/non_zero.rs
+++ b/src/non_zero.rs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use {
 };
 
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-use serde::{
+use serdect::serde::{
     de::{Error, Unexpected},
     Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer,
 };
diff --git a/src/uint.rs b/src/uint.rs
index f47595be..af526688 100644
--- a/src/uint.rs
+++ b/src/uint.rs
@@ -39,10 +39,7 @@ use core::fmt;
 use subtle::{Choice, ConditionallySelectable};
 
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-use ::{
-    serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer},
-    serde_big_array::BigArray,
-};
+use serdect::serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer};
 
 #[cfg(feature = "zeroize")]
 use zeroize::DefaultIsZeroes;
@@ -174,25 +171,32 @@ impl<const LIMBS: usize> fmt::UpperHex for UInt<LIMBS> {
 
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
 #[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "serde")))]
-impl<'de, const LIMBS: usize> Deserialize<'de> for UInt<LIMBS> {
+impl<'de, const LIMBS: usize> Deserialize<'de> for UInt<LIMBS>
+where
+    UInt<LIMBS>: Encoding,
+{
     fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
     where
         D: Deserializer<'de>,
     {
-        Ok(Self {
-            limbs: BigArray::deserialize(deserializer)?,
-        })
+        let mut buffer = Self::ZERO.to_le_bytes();
+        serdect::array::deserialize_hex_or_bin(buffer.as_mut(), deserializer)?;
+
+        Ok(Self::from_le_bytes(buffer))
     }
 }
 
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
 #[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "serde")))]
-impl<'de, const LIMBS: usize> Serialize for UInt<LIMBS> {
+impl<'de, const LIMBS: usize> Serialize for UInt<LIMBS>
+where
+    UInt<LIMBS>: Encoding,
+{
     fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
     where
         S: Serializer,
     {
-        BigArray::serialize(&self.limbs, serializer)
+        serdect::array::serialize_hex_lower_or_bin(&Encoding::to_le_bytes(self), serializer)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/uint/macros.rs b/src/uint/macros.rs
index 5ff76688..431866c2 100644
--- a/src/uint/macros.rs
+++ b/src/uint/macros.rs
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ macro_rules! impl_uint_aliases {
                 }
 
                 fn from_le_bytes(bytes: Self::Repr) -> Self {
-                    Self::from_be_slice(&bytes)
+                    Self::from_le_slice(&bytes)
                 }
 
                 #[inline]
diff --git a/src/wrapping.rs b/src/wrapping.rs
index 2a27bbe0..c2f6c2b3 100644
--- a/src/wrapping.rs
+++ b/src/wrapping.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use core::fmt;
 use subtle::{Choice, ConditionallySelectable, ConstantTimeEq};
 
 #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-use serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer};
+use serdect::serde::{Deserialize, Deserializer, Serialize, Serializer};
 
 /// Provides intentionally-wrapped arithmetic on `T`.
 ///