diff --git a/project/build.properties b/project/build.properties
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c091b86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/project/build.properties
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+sbt.version=0.13.16
diff --git a/sparksql-scalapb/src/main/scala/com/trueaccord/scalapb/spark/ProtoSQL.scala b/sparksql-scalapb/src/main/scala/com/trueaccord/scalapb/spark/ProtoSQL.scala
index dd57271..5603384 100644
--- a/sparksql-scalapb/src/main/scala/com/trueaccord/scalapb/spark/ProtoSQL.scala
+++ b/sparksql-scalapb/src/main/scala/com/trueaccord/scalapb/spark/ProtoSQL.scala
@@ -1,18 +1,22 @@
 package com.trueaccord.scalapb.spark
 
 import com.google.protobuf.ByteString
-import com.google.protobuf.Descriptors.{ EnumValueDescriptor, FieldDescriptor }
+import com.google.protobuf.Descriptors.{EnumValueDescriptor, FieldDescriptor}
 import com.google.protobuf.Descriptors.FieldDescriptor.JavaType
-import com.trueaccord.scalapb.{ GeneratedMessage, GeneratedMessageCompanion, Message }
-import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{ ArrayType, StructField }
-import org.apache.spark.sql.{ DataFrame, Row, SQLContext, SparkSession }
+import com.trueaccord.scalapb.{GeneratedMessage, GeneratedMessageCompanion, Message}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{ArrayType, StringType, StructField}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.{DataFrame, Row, SQLContext, SparkSession}
 
 object ProtoSQL {
   import scala.language.existentials
 
+  val maxSchemaDepth = 30
+
   def protoToDataFrame[T <: GeneratedMessage with Message[T] : GeneratedMessageCompanion](
     sparkSession: SparkSession, protoRdd: org.apache.spark.rdd.RDD[T]): DataFrame = {
-    sparkSession.createDataFrame(protoRdd.map(messageToRow[T]), schemaFor[T])
+    sparkSession.createDataFrame(protoRdd.map( x =>
+      messageToRow[T](x, 0)
+    ), schemaFor[T])
   }
 
   def protoToDataFrame[T <: GeneratedMessage with Message[T] : GeneratedMessageCompanion](
@@ -23,17 +27,25 @@ object ProtoSQL {
   def schemaFor[T <: GeneratedMessage with Message[T]](implicit cmp: GeneratedMessageCompanion[T]) = {
     import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
     import collection.JavaConverters._
-    StructType(cmp.javaDescriptor.getFields.asScala.map(structFieldFor))
+    StructType(cmp.javaDescriptor.getFields.asScala.map( x =>
+      structFieldFor(x, 0))
+    )
   }
 
-  private def toRowData(fd: FieldDescriptor, obj: Any) = fd.getJavaType match {
-    case JavaType.BYTE_STRING => obj.asInstanceOf[ByteString].toByteArray
-    case JavaType.ENUM => obj.asInstanceOf[EnumValueDescriptor].getName
-    case JavaType.MESSAGE => messageToRow(obj.asInstanceOf[T forSome { type T <: GeneratedMessage with Message[T] }])
-    case _ => obj
+  private def toRowData(fd: FieldDescriptor, obj: Any, msgDepth: Integer) = {
+    if (msgDepth > maxSchemaDepth) {
+      throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Protobufs with schema depth of more than $maxSchemaDepth are not supported.")
+    } else {
+      fd.getJavaType match {
+        case JavaType.BYTE_STRING => obj.asInstanceOf[ByteString].toByteArray
+        case JavaType.ENUM => obj.asInstanceOf[EnumValueDescriptor].getName
+        case JavaType.MESSAGE => messageToRow(obj.asInstanceOf[T forSome {type T <: GeneratedMessage with Message[T]}], msgDepth + 1)
+        case _ => obj
+      }
+    }
   }
 
-  def messageToRow[T <: GeneratedMessage with Message[T]](msg: T): Row = {
+  def messageToRow[T <: GeneratedMessage with Message[T]](msg: T, msgDepth: Integer): Row = {
     import collection.JavaConversions._
     Row(
       msg.companion.javaDescriptor.getFields.map {
@@ -41,34 +53,41 @@ object ProtoSQL {
           val obj = msg.getField(fd)
           if (obj != null) {
             if (fd.isRepeated) {
-              obj.asInstanceOf[Traversable[Any]].map(toRowData(fd, _))
+              obj.asInstanceOf[Traversable[Any]].map(toRowData(fd, _, msgDepth))
             } else {
-              toRowData(fd, obj)
+              toRowData(fd, obj, msgDepth)
             }
           } else null
       }: _*)
   }
 
-  def dataTypeFor(fd: FieldDescriptor) = {
-    import com.google.protobuf.Descriptors.FieldDescriptor.JavaType._
-    import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
-    fd.getJavaType match {
-      case INT => IntegerType
-      case LONG => LongType
-      case FLOAT => FloatType
-      case DOUBLE => DoubleType
-      case BOOLEAN => BooleanType
-      case STRING => StringType
-      case BYTE_STRING => BinaryType
-      case ENUM => StringType
-      case MESSAGE =>
-        import collection.JavaConverters._
-        StructType(fd.getMessageType.getFields.asScala.map(structFieldFor))
+  def dataTypeFor(fd: FieldDescriptor, msgDepth: Integer) = {
+    if(msgDepth > maxSchemaDepth) {
+      StringType
+    } else {
+      import com.google.protobuf.Descriptors.FieldDescriptor.JavaType._
+      import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
+      fd.getJavaType match {
+        case INT => IntegerType
+        case LONG => LongType
+        case FLOAT => FloatType
+        case DOUBLE => DoubleType
+        case BOOLEAN => BooleanType
+        case STRING => StringType
+        case BYTE_STRING => BinaryType
+        case ENUM => StringType
+        case MESSAGE =>
+          import collection.JavaConverters._
+          StructType(fd.getMessageType.getFields.asScala.map( x =>
+            structFieldFor(x, msgDepth + 1)
+          )
+        )
+      }
     }
   }
 
-  def structFieldFor(fd: FieldDescriptor): StructField = {
-    val dataType = dataTypeFor(fd)
+  def structFieldFor(fd: FieldDescriptor, msgDepth: Integer): StructField = {
+    val dataType = dataTypeFor(fd, msgDepth)
     StructField(
       fd.getName,
       if (fd.isRepeated) ArrayType(dataType, containsNull = false) else dataType,
diff --git a/sparksql-scalapb/src/test/protobuf/demo.proto b/sparksql-scalapb/src/test/protobuf/demo.proto
index 40c113b..452d23b 100644
--- a/sparksql-scalapb/src/test/protobuf/demo.proto
+++ b/sparksql-scalapb/src/test/protobuf/demo.proto
@@ -21,4 +21,5 @@ message Person {
   repeated string tags = 4;
   repeated Address addresses = 5;
   optional Base base = 6;
+  optional Person other_person = 7;
 }