diff --git a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/CabalHelper.hs b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/CabalHelper.hs
index 34f277d..062fe7b 100644
--- a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/CabalHelper.hs
+++ b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/CabalHelper.hs
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ import Control.Monad
 import Control.Category ((.))
 import Data.Maybe
 import Data.Monoid
-import Data.Serialize (Serialize)
+import Data.Version
+import Data.Binary (Binary)
 import Data.Traversable
 import Distribution.Helper hiding (Programs(..))
 import qualified Distribution.Helper as CH
@@ -289,7 +290,7 @@ helperProgs progs = CH.Programs {
     ghcPkgProgram = T.ghcPkgProgram progs
   }
 
-chCached :: (Applicative m, IOish m, Gm m, Serialize a)
+chCached :: (Applicative m, IOish m, Gm m, Binary a)
   => (FilePath -> Cached m GhcModState ChCacheData a) -> m a
 chCached c = do
   projdir <- cradleRootDir <$> cradle
@@ -305,7 +306,7 @@ chCached c = do
                progs' <- patchStackPrograms crdl (optPrograms opts)
                return $ ( helperProgs progs'
                         , projdir
-                        , (gmVer, chVer)
+                        , (showVersion gmVer, chVer)
                         )
 
    gmVer = GhcMod.version
diff --git a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Caching.hs b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Caching.hs
index d074a17..188c1e1 100644
--- a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Caching.hs
+++ b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Caching.hs
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@ import Control.Arrow (first)
 import Control.Monad
 import Control.Monad.Trans.Maybe
 import Data.Maybe
-import Data.Serialize (Serialize, encode, decode)
+import Data.Binary (Binary, encode, decodeOrFail)
 import Data.Version
 import Data.Label
-import qualified Data.ByteString as BS
-import qualified Data.ByteString.Char8 as BS8
+import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as BS
+import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy.Char8 as BS8
 import System.FilePath
 import Utils (TimedFile(..), timeMaybe, mightExist)
 import Paths_ghc_mod (version)
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import Language.Haskell.GhcMod.Caching.Types
 import Language.Haskell.GhcMod.Logging
 
 -- | Cache a MonadIO action with proper invalidation.
-cached :: forall m a d. (Gm m, MonadIO m, Serialize a, Eq d, Serialize d, Show d)
+cached :: forall m a d. (Gm m, MonadIO m, Binary a, Eq d, Binary d, Show d)
        => FilePath -- ^ Directory to prepend to 'cacheFile'
        -> Cached m GhcModState d a -- ^ Cache descriptor
        -> d
@@ -84,9 +84,13 @@ cached dir cd d = do
      case first BS8.words $ BS8.span (/='\n') cc of
        (["Written", "by", "ghc-mod", ver], rest)
            | BS8.unpack ver == showVersion version ->
-            return $ either (const Nothing) Just $ decode $ BS.drop 1 rest
+            return $ either (const Nothing) Just $ decodeE $ BS.drop 1 rest
        _ -> return Nothing
 
+   decodeE b = do
+     case decodeOrFail b of
+       Left (_rest, _offset, errmsg) -> Left errmsg
+       Right (_reset, _offset, a) -> Right a
 timeCacheInput :: MonadIO m => FilePath -> FilePath -> [FilePath] -> m TimedCacheFiles
 timeCacheInput dir cfile ifs = liftIO $ do
     -- TODO: is checking the times this way around race free?
diff --git a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Caching/Types.hs b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Caching/Types.hs
index 2a21b1a..7a148d6 100644
--- a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Caching/Types.hs
+++ b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Caching/Types.hs
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ module Language.Haskell.GhcMod.Caching.Types where
 
 import Utils
 import Data.Label
-import Data.Version
 import Distribution.Helper
 
 type CacheContents d a = Maybe ([FilePath], d, a)
@@ -49,4 +48,4 @@ data TimedCacheFiles = TimedCacheFiles {
   -- ^ Timestamped files returned by the cached action
  } deriving (Eq, Ord, Show)
 
-type ChCacheData = (Programs, FilePath, (Version, [Char]))
+type ChCacheData = (Programs, FilePath, (String, String))
diff --git a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Types.hs b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Types.hs
index 2892805..7f1d7a5 100644
--- a/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Types.hs
+++ b/Language/Haskell/GhcMod/Types.hs
@@ -15,8 +15,7 @@ import Control.Exception (Exception)
 import Control.Applicative
 import Control.Concurrent
 import Control.Monad
-import Data.Serialize
-import Data.Version
+import Data.Binary
 import Data.Map (Map)
 import qualified Data.Map as Map
 import Data.Set (Set)
@@ -25,6 +24,8 @@ import Data.Monoid
 import Data.Maybe
 import Data.Typeable (Typeable)
 import Data.IORef
+import Data.Time (UTCTime(..))
+import Data.Time.Calendar (Day(..))
 import Data.Label.Derive
 import Distribution.Helper hiding (Programs(..))
 import qualified Distribution.Helper as CabalHelper
@@ -231,7 +232,7 @@ data GhcPkgDb = GlobalDb
               | PackageDb String
                 deriving (Eq, Show, Generic)
 
-instance Serialize GhcPkgDb
+instance Binary GhcPkgDb
 
 -- | A single GHC command line option.
 type GHCOption = String
@@ -262,7 +263,7 @@ data GmModuleGraph = GmModuleGraph {
     gmgGraph :: Map ModulePath (Set ModulePath)
   } deriving (Eq, Ord, Show, Read, Generic, Typeable)
 
-instance Serialize GmModuleGraph where
+instance Binary GmModuleGraph where
   put GmModuleGraph {..} = put (mpim, graph)
     where
       mpim :: Map ModulePath Integer
@@ -302,13 +303,13 @@ data GmComponent (t :: GmComponentType) eps = GmComponent {
   , gmcSourceDirs      :: [FilePath]
   } deriving (Eq, Ord, Show, Read, Generic, Functor)
 
-instance Serialize eps => Serialize (GmComponent t eps)
+instance Binary eps => Binary (GmComponent t eps)
 
 data ModulePath = ModulePath { mpModule :: ModuleName, mpPath :: FilePath }
   deriving (Eq, Ord, Show, Read, Generic, Typeable)
-instance Serialize ModulePath
+instance Binary ModulePath
 
-instance Serialize ModuleName where
+instance Binary ModuleName where
   get = mkModuleName <$> get
   put mn = put (moduleNameString mn)
 
@@ -366,13 +367,16 @@ instance Error GhcModError where
 
 instance Exception GhcModError
 
-deriving instance Generic Version
-instance Serialize Version
+instance Binary CabalHelper.Programs
+instance Binary ChModuleName
+instance Binary ChComponentName
+instance Binary ChEntrypoint
 
-instance Serialize CabalHelper.Programs
-instance Serialize ChModuleName
-instance Serialize ChComponentName
-instance Serialize ChEntrypoint
+instance Binary UTCTime where
+    put (UTCTime (ModifiedJulianDay day) difftime) =
+        put day >> put (toRational difftime)
+    get = do
+        UTCTime <$> (ModifiedJulianDay <$> get) <*> (fromRational <$> get)
 
 mkLabel ''GhcModCaches
 mkLabel ''GhcModState
diff --git a/ghc-mod.cabal b/ghc-mod.cabal
index f3e008c..83452ab 100644
--- a/ghc-mod.cabal
+++ b/ghc-mod.cabal
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ Library
                         Utils
   Build-Depends:        base              < 5 && >= 4.0
                       , bytestring        < 0.11
-                      , cereal            < 0.5 && >= 0.4
+                      , binary            < 0.8 && >= 0.7
                       , containers        < 0.6
                       , cabal-helper      < 0.7 && >= 0.6.1.0
                       , deepseq           < 1.5