diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/TypeDescriptor.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/TypeDescriptor.java
index 77a4c59183..9a3b2ad413 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/TypeDescriptor.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/convert/TypeDescriptor.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 package org.springframework.core.convert;
 
+import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
 import java.lang.reflect.Array;
 import java.lang.reflect.Field;
@@ -38,7 +39,10 @@ import org.springframework.util.ObjectUtils;
  * @author Sam Brannen
  * @since 3.0
  */
-public class TypeDescriptor {
+public class TypeDescriptor implements Serializable {
+
+	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
+
 
 	static final Annotation[] EMPTY_ANNOTATION_ARRAY = new Annotation[0];
 
diff --git a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/convert/TypeDescriptorTests.java b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/convert/TypeDescriptorTests.java
index 6597ab46a7..7af9d19f87 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/convert/TypeDescriptorTests.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/test/java/org/springframework/core/convert/TypeDescriptorTests.java
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@
 
 package org.springframework.core.convert;
 
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
+import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
 import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
 import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
 import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
@@ -32,6 +36,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.springframework.core.MethodParameter;
 
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.*;
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
 /**
@@ -870,4 +875,16 @@ public class TypeDescriptorTests {
 	public void createNullArray() throws Exception {
 		assertNull(TypeDescriptor.array(null));
 	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void serializable() throws Exception {
+		TypeDescriptor typeDescriptor = TypeDescriptor.forObject("");
+		ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+		ObjectOutputStream outputStream = new ObjectOutputStream(out);
+		outputStream.writeObject(typeDescriptor);
+		ObjectInputStream inputStream = new ObjectInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(
+				out.toByteArray()));
+		TypeDescriptor readObject = (TypeDescriptor) inputStream.readObject();
+		assertThat(readObject, equalTo(typeDescriptor));
+	}
 }