diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c6b362c94..afaab1153 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -420,6 +420,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "crux_core",
  "serde",
+ "serde_bytes",
  "thiserror",
 ]
 
diff --git a/crux_kv/Cargo.toml b/crux_kv/Cargo.toml
index f8f492de3..737fbbbc0 100644
--- a/crux_kv/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crux_kv/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,4 +17,5 @@ typegen = []
 anyhow.workspace = true
 crux_core = { version = "0.9.0", path = "../crux_core" }
 serde = { workspace = true, features = ["derive"] }
+serde_bytes = "0.11.15"
 thiserror = "1.0.63"
diff --git a/crux_kv/src/lib.rs b/crux_kv/src/lib.rs
index 06fa03a22..0cd92cb35 100644
--- a/crux_kv/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crux_kv/src/lib.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,11 @@ pub enum KeyValueOperation {
     /// Read bytes stored under a key
     Get { key: String },
     /// Write bytes under a key
-    Set { key: String, value: Vec<u8> },
+    Set {
+        key: String,
+        #[serde(with = "serde_bytes")]
+        value: Vec<u8>,
+    },
     /// Remove a key and its value
     Delete { key: String },
     /// Test if a key exists
diff --git a/crux_kv/src/value.rs b/crux_kv/src/value.rs
index 0e83bfbba..cbfd8cd09 100644
--- a/crux_kv/src/value.rs
+++ b/crux_kv/src/value.rs
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 #[derive(Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub enum Value {
     None,
-    Bytes(Vec<u8>),
+    Bytes(#[serde(with = "serde_bytes")] Vec<u8>),
 }
 
 impl From<Vec<u8>> for Value {