diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/pickling/FastTags.scala b/core/src/main/scala/pickling/FastTags.scala
index 3eba4cfd9b..ccbd4d0895 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/pickling/FastTags.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/pickling/FastTags.scala
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ object FastTypeTag {
   }
 
   def apply(mirror: ru.Mirror, key: String): FastTypeTag[_] = apply(mirror, typeFromString(mirror, key), key)
+
   def apply(key: String): FastTypeTag[_] = macro Compat.FastTypeTagMacros_apply
 
   def valueTypeName(tag: FastTypeTag[_]): String = {
@@ -138,7 +139,12 @@ object FastTypeTag {
           val key = "scala.Array[" + elemClass.getName + "]"
           apply(mirror, tpe, key)
         } else {
-          apply(mirror, clazz.getName())
+          val className = clazz.getName()
+          val key = if (className.endsWith("$"))
+            className.substring(0, className.length-1) + ".type"
+          else
+            className
+          apply(mirror, key)
         }
       })
     } catch {
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/pickling/Pickler.scala b/core/src/main/scala/pickling/Pickler.scala
index 41b21ca862..b30406c868 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/pickling/Pickler.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/pickling/Pickler.scala
@@ -45,9 +45,8 @@ object DPickler {
 trait GenPicklers extends CorePicklersUnpicklers {
 
   implicit def genPickler[T](implicit format: PickleFormat): SPickler[T] = macro Compat.PicklerMacros_impl[T]
-  // TODO: the primitive pickler hack employed here is funny, but I think we should fix this one
-  // since people probably would also have to deal with the necessity to abstract over pickle formats
-  def genPickler(classLoader: ClassLoader, clazz: Class[_], tag: FastTypeTag[_])(implicit format: PickleFormat, share: refs.Share): SPickler[_] = {
+
+  def genPickler(classLoader: ClassLoader, clazz: Class[_], tag: FastTypeTag[_])(implicit pf: PickleFormat, share: refs.Share): SPickler[_] = {
     // println(s"generating runtime pickler for $clazz") // NOTE: needs to be an explicit println, so that we don't occasionally fallback to runtime in static cases
     val className = if (clazz == null) "null" else clazz.getName
     GlobalRegistry.picklerMap.get(className) match {
@@ -60,6 +59,16 @@ trait GenPicklers extends CorePicklersUnpicklers {
           val elemPickler = genPickler(classLoader, elemClass, elemTag)
 
           mkRuntimeTravPickler[Array[AnyRef]](mirror, elemClass, elemTag, tag, elemPickler, null)
+        } else if (className.endsWith("$")) {
+          // Return an SPickler[_]
+          // Note: creating a RuntimePickler has too much overhead in this case
+          new SPickler[Any] {
+            val format: PickleFormat = pf
+            def pickle(picklee: Any, builder: PBuilder): Unit = {
+              builder.beginEntry(picklee)
+              builder.endEntry()
+            }
+          }
         } else {
           val runtime = new RuntimePickler(classLoader, clazz)
           runtime.mkPickler
@@ -86,13 +95,15 @@ trait Unpickler[T] {
 }
 
 trait GenUnpicklers extends CorePicklersUnpicklers {
+
   implicit def genUnpickler[T](implicit format: PickleFormat): Unpickler[T] = macro Compat.UnpicklerMacros_impl[T]
-  def genUnpickler(mirror: Mirror, tag: FastTypeTag[_])(implicit format: PickleFormat, share: refs.Share): Unpickler[_] = {
+
+  def genUnpickler(mirror: Mirror, tag: FastTypeTag[_])(implicit pf: PickleFormat, share: refs.Share): Unpickler[_] = {
     // println(s"generating runtime unpickler for ${tag.key}") // NOTE: needs to be an explicit println, so that we don't occasionally fallback to runtime in static cases
     val className = tag.key
     GlobalRegistry.unpicklerMap.get(className) match {
       case None =>
-        // debug(s"!!! could not find registered pickler for class $className !!!")
+        // debug(s"!!! could not find registered unpickler for class $className !!!")
         val unpickler = if (className.startsWith("scala.Array")) {
           // debug(s"runtime unpickling of an array: $className")
           val len = className.length
@@ -103,6 +114,16 @@ trait GenUnpicklers extends CorePicklersUnpicklers {
           val elemUnpickler = Unpickler.genUnpickler(mirror, elemTag)
 
           mkRuntimeTravPickler[Array[AnyRef]](mirror, elemClass, elemTag, tag, null, elemUnpickler)
+        } else if (className.endsWith(".type")) {
+          // Return an Unpickler[_]
+          // Note: creating an InterpretedUnpicklerRuntime has too much overhead in this case
+          new Unpickler[Any] {
+            val format: PickleFormat = pf
+            val moduleSym = mirror.staticModule(className.stripSuffix(".type"))
+            val moduleMirror = mirror.reflectModule(moduleSym)
+            def unpickle(tagDontAccess: => FastTypeTag[_], reader: PReader): Any =
+              moduleMirror.instance
+          }
         } else {
           val runtime = new InterpretedUnpicklerRuntime(mirror, tag)
           runtime.genUnpickler
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/pickling/Runtime.scala b/core/src/main/scala/pickling/Runtime.scala
index 5eb74ed0c1..32eb84fbd4 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/pickling/Runtime.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/pickling/Runtime.scala
@@ -159,7 +159,6 @@ class InterpretedUnpicklerRuntime(mirror: Mirror, tag: FastTypeTag[_])(implicit
   import scala.reflect.runtime.{universe => ru}
 
   val tpe = tag.tpe
-  val sym = tpe.typeSymbol.asType
   // debug("UnpicklerRuntime: tpe = " + tpe)
   val clazz = mirror.runtimeClass(tpe.erasure)
   val irs = new IRs[ru.type](ru)
diff --git a/core/src/test/scala/pickling/run/runtime-spec.scala b/core/src/test/scala/pickling/run/runtime-spec.scala
index 6a2dd21d35..8b38f3cd7e 100644
--- a/core/src/test/scala/pickling/run/runtime-spec.scala
+++ b/core/src/test/scala/pickling/run/runtime-spec.scala
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ object RuntimeJsonSpec extends Properties("runtime-json") {
     roundTrip(p)
   }
 
+  property("Option[Int]") = Prop forAll { (x: Option[Int]) =>
+    roundTrip(x)
+  }
+
   property("C") = Prop forAll { (i: Int) =>
     roundTrip(C(i))
   }
@@ -102,6 +106,17 @@ object RuntimeJsonSpec extends Properties("runtime-json") {
     val t2 = up.asInstanceOf[(Int, Array[Double])]
     t._1 == t2._1 && t._2.mkString(",") == t2._2.mkString(",")
   }
+
+  property("Array[(Int, Array[Double])]") = Prop forAll { (t: Array[(Int, Array[Double])]) =>
+    val obj: Any = t
+    val p = obj.pickle
+    val up = p.unpickle[Any]
+    val t2 = up.asInstanceOf[Array[(Int, Array[Double])]]
+    t2.zipWithIndex.forall { case (pair, index) =>
+      val otherPair = t(index)
+      otherPair._1 == pair._1 && otherPair._2.mkString(",") == pair._2.mkString(",")
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 object RuntimeBinarySpec extends Properties("runtime-binary") {
@@ -168,6 +183,10 @@ object RuntimeBinarySpec extends Properties("runtime-binary") {
     roundTrip(p)
   }
 
+  property("Option[Int]") = Prop forAll { (x: Option[Int]) =>
+    roundTrip(x)
+  }
+
   property("C") = Prop forAll { (i: Int) =>
     roundTrip(C(i))
   }
@@ -195,4 +214,15 @@ object RuntimeBinarySpec extends Properties("runtime-binary") {
     val t2 = up.asInstanceOf[(Int, Array[Double])]
     t._1 == t2._1 && t._2.mkString(",") == t2._2.mkString(",")
   }
+
+  property("Array[(Int, Array[Double])]") = Prop forAll { (t: Array[(Int, Array[Double])]) =>
+    val obj: Any = t
+    val p = obj.pickle
+    val up = p.unpickle[Any]
+    val t2 = up.asInstanceOf[Array[(Int, Array[Double])]]
+    t2.zipWithIndex.forall { case (pair, index) =>
+      val otherPair = t(index)
+      otherPair._1 == pair._1 && otherPair._2.mkString(",") == pair._2.mkString(",")
+    }
+  }
 }