diff --git a/quick-protobuf/Cargo.toml b/quick-protobuf/Cargo.toml
index dcfebf12..bf610bfd 100644
--- a/quick-protobuf/Cargo.toml
+++ b/quick-protobuf/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,15 +11,15 @@ repository = "https://github.com/tafia/quick-protobuf"
 edition = "2018"
 
 [dependencies]
-byteorder = "1.2.4"
-failure = "0.1.1"
+byteorder = { version = "1.2.4", default-features = false }
+failure = { version = "0.1.1", default-features = false }
 failure_derive = "0.1.1"
-arrayvec = {version = "0.4.11", optional = true }
+arrayvec = { version = "0.4.11", optional = true, default-features = false }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 lazy_static = "0.2.10"
-arrayvec = "0.4.11"
 
 [features]
-default = ["with_arrayvec"]
+default = ["std", "with_arrayvec"]
+std = ["byteorder/std", "failure/std"]
 with_arrayvec = ["arrayvec"]
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/Cargo.toml b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..816904f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+[package]
+name = "no-std-example"
+version = "0.1.0"
+authors = ["Russell Mull <russell@auxon.io>"]
+edition = "2018"
+
+[dependencies]
+quick-protobuf = { path = "..", default-features = false, features = ["with_arrayvec"] }
+arrayvec = { version = "0.4.11", default-features = false }
+
+[workspace]
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/Readme.md b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/Readme.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dfa6c0c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/Readme.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+This is just a compile-test; the actual functionality is all available in normal
+builds.
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/lib.rs b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5501698c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+#![no_std]
+
+use quick_protobuf::{serialize_into_slice, deserialize_from_slice};
+use crate::protos::no_std::*;
+
+mod protos;
+
+pub fn round_trip() {
+    let message = NoStdMessage::default();
+
+    let mut buf = [0u8; 1024];
+    serialize_into_slice(&message, &mut buf).unwrap();
+
+    let read_message = deserialize_from_slice(&buf).unwrap();
+    assert_eq!(message, read_message);
+}
+
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/mod.rs b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cb5b6283
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// Automatically generated mod.rs
+pub mod protos;
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/no_std.proto b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/no_std.proto
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2ff021b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/no_std.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+package protos.no_std;
+
+enum MyEnum {
+  Val0 = 0;
+  Val1 = 1;
+}
+
+message EmbeddedMessage {
+  int32 val = 1;
+  MyEnum e = 2;
+}
+
+message NoStdMessage {
+  fixed32 num = 1;
+  repeated fixed32 nums = 2 [rust_gen_arrayvec = 16];
+  EmbeddedMessage message = 3;
+  repeated EmbeddedMessage messages = 4 [rust_gen_arrayvec = 16];
+}
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/protos/mod.rs b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/protos/mod.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..13ac3b3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/protos/mod.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// Automatically generated mod.rs
+pub mod no_std;
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/protos/no_std.rs b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/protos/no_std.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..dc424fc3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/quick-protobuf/no-std-example/src/protos/no_std.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+// Automatically generated rust module for 'no_std.proto' file
+
+#![allow(non_snake_case)]
+#![allow(non_upper_case_globals)]
+#![allow(non_camel_case_types)]
+#![allow(unused_imports)]
+#![allow(unknown_lints)]
+#![allow(clippy)]
+#![cfg_attr(rustfmt, rustfmt_skip)]
+
+
+use quick_protobuf::{MessageRead, MessageWrite, BytesReader, Writer, WriterBackend, Result};
+use quick_protobuf::sizeofs::*;
+use super::super::*;
+
+#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Clone, Copy)]
+pub enum MyEnum {
+    Val0 = 0,
+    Val1 = 1,
+}
+
+impl Default for MyEnum {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        MyEnum::Val0
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<i32> for MyEnum {
+    fn from(i: i32) -> Self {
+        match i {
+            0 => MyEnum::Val0,
+            1 => MyEnum::Val1,
+            _ => Self::default(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a> From<&'a str> for MyEnum {
+    fn from(s: &'a str) -> Self {
+        match s {
+            "Val0" => MyEnum::Val0,
+            "Val1" => MyEnum::Val1,
+            _ => Self::default(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Default, PartialEq, Clone)]
+pub struct EmbeddedMessage {
+    pub val: i32,
+    pub e: protos::no_std::MyEnum,
+}
+
+impl<'a> MessageRead<'a> for EmbeddedMessage {
+    fn from_reader(r: &mut BytesReader, bytes: &'a [u8]) -> Result<Self> {
+        let mut msg = Self::default();
+        while !r.is_eof() {
+            match r.next_tag(bytes) {
+                Ok(8) => msg.val = r.read_int32(bytes)?,
+                Ok(16) => msg.e = r.read_enum(bytes)?,
+                Ok(t) => { r.read_unknown(bytes, t)?; }
+                Err(e) => return Err(e),
+            }
+        }
+        Ok(msg)
+    }
+}
+
+impl MessageWrite for EmbeddedMessage {
+    fn get_size(&self) -> usize {
+        0
+        + if self.val == 0i32 { 0 } else { 1 + sizeof_varint(*(&self.val) as u64) }
+        + if self.e == protos::no_std::MyEnum::Val0 { 0 } else { 1 + sizeof_varint(*(&self.e) as u64) }
+    }
+
+    fn write_message<W: WriterBackend>(&self, w: &mut Writer<W>) -> Result<()> {
+        if self.val != 0i32 { w.write_with_tag(8, |w| w.write_int32(*&self.val))?; }
+        if self.e != protos::no_std::MyEnum::Val0 { w.write_with_tag(16, |w| w.write_enum(*&self.e as i32))?; }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Default, PartialEq, Clone)]
+pub struct NoStdMessage {
+    pub num: u32,
+    pub nums: arrayvec::ArrayVec<[u32; 16]>,
+    pub message: Option<protos::no_std::EmbeddedMessage>,
+    pub messages: arrayvec::ArrayVec<[protos::no_std::EmbeddedMessage; 16]>,
+}
+
+impl<'a> MessageRead<'a> for NoStdMessage {
+    fn from_reader(r: &mut BytesReader, bytes: &'a [u8]) -> Result<Self> {
+        let mut msg = Self::default();
+        while !r.is_eof() {
+            match r.next_tag(bytes) {
+                Ok(13) => msg.num = r.read_fixed32(bytes)?,
+                Ok(18) => msg.nums = r.read_packed_arrayvec(bytes, |r, bytes| Ok(r.read_fixed32(bytes)?))?,
+                Ok(26) => msg.message = Some(r.read_message::<protos::no_std::EmbeddedMessage>(bytes)?),
+                Ok(34) => msg.messages.push(r.read_message::<protos::no_std::EmbeddedMessage>(bytes)?),
+                Ok(t) => { r.read_unknown(bytes, t)?; }
+                Err(e) => return Err(e),
+            }
+        }
+        Ok(msg)
+    }
+}
+
+impl MessageWrite for NoStdMessage {
+    fn get_size(&self) -> usize {
+        0
+        + if self.num == 0u32 { 0 } else { 1 + 4 }
+        + if self.nums.is_empty() { 0 } else { 1 + sizeof_len(self.nums.len() * 4) }
+        + self.message.as_ref().map_or(0, |m| 1 + sizeof_len((m).get_size()))
+        + self.messages.iter().map(|s| 1 + sizeof_len((s).get_size())).sum::<usize>()
+    }
+
+    fn write_message<W: WriterBackend>(&self, w: &mut Writer<W>) -> Result<()> {
+        if self.num != 0u32 { w.write_with_tag(13, |w| w.write_fixed32(*&self.num))?; }
+        w.write_packed_fixed_with_tag(18, &self.nums)?;
+        if let Some(ref s) = self.message { w.write_with_tag(26, |w| w.write_message(s))?; }
+        for s in &self.messages { w.write_with_tag(34, |w| w.write_message(s))?; }
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/src/errors.rs b/quick-protobuf/src/errors.rs
index 84fedd2c..4293bdde 100644
--- a/quick-protobuf/src/errors.rs
+++ b/quick-protobuf/src/errors.rs
@@ -1,30 +1,37 @@
-//! A module to handle all errors via error-chain crate
+//! A module to handle all errors via failure crate
 
-use failure::Fail;
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 use std::io;
 
 /// An error enum which derives `Fail`
-#[derive(Debug, Fail)]
+#[derive(Debug, failure_derive::Fail)]
 pub enum Error {
     /// Io error
+    #[cfg(feature = "std")]
     #[fail(display = "{}", _0)]
     Io(#[cause] io::Error),
+
     /// Utf8 Error
     #[fail(display = "{}", _0)]
-    Utf8(#[cause] ::std::str::Utf8Error),
+    Utf8(::core::str::Utf8Error),
 
     /// Deprecated feature (in protocol buffer specification)
     #[fail(display = "Feature '{}' has been deprecated", _0)]
     Deprecated(&'static str),
+
     /// Unknown wire type
     #[fail(display = "Unknown wire type '{}', must be less than 6", _0)]
     UnknownWireType(u8),
+
     /// Varint decoding error
     #[fail(display = "Cannot decode varint")]
     Varint,
+
     /// Error while parsing protocol buffer message
+    #[cfg(feature = "std")]
     #[fail(display = "Error while parsing message: {}", _0)]
     Message(String),
+
     /// Unexpected map tag
     #[fail(display = "Unexpected map tag: '{}', expecting 1 or 2", _0)]
     Map(u8),
@@ -39,10 +46,12 @@ pub enum Error {
 }
 
 /// A wrapper for `Result<T, Error>`
-pub type Result<T> = ::std::result::Result<T, Error>;
+pub type Result<T> = ::core::result::Result<T, Error>;
 
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 impl Into<io::Error> for Error {
     fn into(self) -> ::std::io::Error {
+        use failure::Fail;
         match self {
             Error::Io(x) => x,
             Error::Utf8(x) => io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::InvalidData, x),
@@ -51,14 +60,15 @@ impl Into<io::Error> for Error {
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 impl From<io::Error> for Error {
     fn from(e: io::Error) -> Error {
         Error::Io(e)
     }
 }
 
-impl From<::std::str::Utf8Error> for Error {
-    fn from(e: ::std::str::Utf8Error) -> Error {
+impl From<::core::str::Utf8Error> for Error {
+    fn from(e: ::core::str::Utf8Error) -> Error {
         Error::Utf8(e)
     }
 }
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/src/lib.rs b/quick-protobuf/src/lib.rs
index 2a5ca46c..b8c79447 100644
--- a/quick-protobuf/src/lib.rs
+++ b/quick-protobuf/src/lib.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 #![deny(missing_docs)]
 #![allow(dead_code)]
+#![cfg_attr(not(feature = "std"), no_std)]
 
 extern crate byteorder;
 extern crate failure;
@@ -18,4 +19,9 @@ pub mod writer;
 pub use crate::errors::{Error, Result};
 pub use crate::message::{MessageRead, MessageWrite};
 pub use crate::reader::{deserialize_from_slice, BytesReader};
-pub use crate::writer::{serialize_into_vec, serialize_into_slice, BytesWriter, Writer, WriterBackend};
+pub use crate::writer::{serialize_into_slice, BytesWriter, Writer, WriterBackend};
+
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
+pub use crate::reader::Reader;
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
+pub use crate::writer::serialize_into_vec;
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/src/message.rs b/quick-protobuf/src/message.rs
index 6ab0eb29..77e5a9fb 100644
--- a/quick-protobuf/src/message.rs
+++ b/quick-protobuf/src/message.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@
 //!
 //! Creates the struct and implements a reader
 
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 use std::fs::File;
-use std::io::{BufWriter, Write};
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
+use std::io::BufWriter;
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 use std::path::Path;
 
 use crate::errors::Result;
@@ -23,6 +26,7 @@ pub trait MessageWrite: Sized {
     }
 
     /// Writes self into a file
+    #[cfg(feature = "std")]
     fn write_file<P: AsRef<Path>>(&self, p: P) -> Result<()> {
         let file = BufWriter::new(File::create(p)?);
         let mut writer = Writer::new(file);
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/src/reader.rs b/quick-protobuf/src/reader.rs
index 3395d54a..67e8e01d 100644
--- a/quick-protobuf/src/reader.rs
+++ b/quick-protobuf/src/reader.rs
@@ -7,8 +7,11 @@
 //!
 //! It is advised, for convenience to directly work with a `Reader`.
 
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 use std::fs::File;
-use std::io::{self, Read};
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
+use std::io::Read;
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 use std::path::Path;
 
 #[cfg(feature = "with_arrayvec")]
@@ -343,7 +346,7 @@ impl BytesReader {
     #[inline]
     pub fn read_string<'a>(&mut self, bytes: &'a [u8]) -> Result<&'a str> {
         self.read_len_varint(bytes, |r, b| {
-            ::std::str::from_utf8(&b[r.start..r.end]).map_err(|e| e.into())
+            ::core::str::from_utf8(&b[r.start..r.end]).map_err(|e| e.into())
         })
     }
 
@@ -351,6 +354,7 @@ impl BytesReader {
     ///
     /// Note: packed field are stored as a variable length chunk of data, while regular repeated
     /// fields behaves like an iterator, yielding their tag everytime
+    #[cfg(feature = "std")]
     #[inline]
     pub fn read_packed<'a, M, F>(&mut self, bytes: &'a [u8], mut read: F) -> Result<Vec<M>>
     where
@@ -395,9 +399,9 @@ impl BytesReader {
         if self.len() < len {
             return Err(Error::UnexpectedEndOfBuffer);
         }
-        let n = len / ::std::mem::size_of::<M>();
+        let n = len / ::core::mem::size_of::<M>();
         let slice = unsafe {
-            ::std::slice::from_raw_parts(
+            ::core::slice::from_raw_parts(
                 bytes.get_unchecked(self.start) as *const u8 as *const M,
                 n,
             )
@@ -440,8 +444,8 @@ impl BytesReader {
     where
         F: FnMut(&mut BytesReader, &'a [u8]) -> Result<K>,
         G: FnMut(&mut BytesReader, &'a [u8]) -> Result<V>,
-        K: ::std::fmt::Debug + Default,
-        V: ::std::fmt::Debug + Default,
+        K: ::core::fmt::Debug + Default,
+        V: ::core::fmt::Debug + Default,
     {
         self.read_len_varint(bytes, |r, bytes| {
             let mut k = K::default();
@@ -547,11 +551,13 @@ impl BytesReader {
 ///     println!("Found {} foos and {} bars!", foobar.foos.len(), foobar.bars.len());
 /// }
 /// ```
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 pub struct Reader {
     buffer: Vec<u8>,
     inner: BytesReader,
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 impl Reader {
     /// Creates a new `Reader`
     pub fn from_reader<R: Read>(mut r: R, capacity: usize) -> Result<Reader> {
diff --git a/quick-protobuf/src/writer.rs b/quick-protobuf/src/writer.rs
index 176ff9c6..f98d9707 100644
--- a/quick-protobuf/src/writer.rs
+++ b/quick-protobuf/src/writer.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 //! A module to manage protobuf serialization
 
-use std::io::Write;
-
 use crate::errors::{Error, Result};
 use crate::message::MessageWrite;
 
 use byteorder::{ByteOrder, LittleEndian as LE};
+
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 use byteorder::WriteBytesExt;
 
 /// A struct to write protobuf messages
@@ -204,8 +204,8 @@ impl<W: WriterBackend> Writer<W> {
     /// all data at once
     #[inline]
     pub fn write_packed_fixed<M>(&mut self, v: &[M]) -> Result<()> {
-        let len = v.len() * ::std::mem::size_of::<M>();
-        let bytes = unsafe { ::std::slice::from_raw_parts(v.as_ptr() as *const u8, len) };
+        let len = v.len() * ::core::mem::size_of::<M>();
+        let bytes = unsafe { ::core::slice::from_raw_parts(v.as_ptr() as *const u8, len) };
         self.write_bytes(bytes)
     }
 
@@ -263,8 +263,8 @@ impl<W: WriterBackend> Writer<W> {
         }
 
         self.write_tag(tag)?;
-        let len = ::std::mem::size_of::<M>() * v.len();
-        let bytes = unsafe { ::std::slice::from_raw_parts(v.as_ptr() as *const u8, len) };
+        let len = ::core::mem::size_of::<M>() * v.len();
+        let bytes = unsafe { ::core::slice::from_raw_parts(v.as_ptr() as *const u8, len) };
         self.write_bytes(bytes)
     }
 
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ impl<W: WriterBackend> Writer<W> {
         self.write_tag(tag)?;
         let len = v.len() * item_size;
         let bytes =
-            unsafe { ::std::slice::from_raw_parts(v as *const [M] as *const M as *const u8, len) };
+            unsafe { ::core::slice::from_raw_parts(v as *const [M] as *const M as *const u8, len) };
         self.write_bytes(bytes)
     }
 
@@ -309,6 +309,7 @@ impl<W: WriterBackend> Writer<W> {
 }
 
 /// Serialize a `MessageWrite` into a `Vec`
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 pub fn serialize_into_vec<M: MessageWrite>(message: &M) -> Result<Vec<u8>> {
     let len = message.get_size();
     let mut v = Vec::with_capacity(len + crate::sizeofs::sizeof_len(len));
@@ -463,6 +464,7 @@ impl<'a> WriterBackend for BytesWriter<'a> {
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "std")]
 impl<W: std::io::Write> WriterBackend for W {
     #[inline(always)]
     fn pb_write_u8(&mut self, x: u8) -> Result<()> {
diff --git a/run_test.sh b/run_test.sh
index 2fc10863..d25bd06c 100755
--- a/run_test.sh
+++ b/run_test.sh
@@ -8,4 +8,9 @@ cargo run -p quick-protobuf --example pb_rs_example_v3_owned
 cargo run -p quick-protobuf --example pb_rs_example
 cargo run -p quick-protobuf --example pb_rs_example_v3
 
+# test that no_std can build
+pushd quick-protobuf/no-std-example
+  cargo build
+popd
+
 cargo test -p pb-rs -p quick-protobuf