diff --git a/djangorestframework/serializer.py b/djangorestframework/serializer.py
index 55b84df16..bb77ef7dc 100644
--- a/djangorestframework/serializer.py
+++ b/djangorestframework/serializer.py
@@ -229,21 +229,21 @@ class Serializer(object):
 
         # serialize each required field 
         for fname in fields:
-            if hasattr(self, smart_str(fname)):
-                # check first for a method 'fname' on self first
-                meth = getattr(self, fname)
-                if inspect.ismethod(meth) and len(inspect.getargspec(meth)[0]) == 2:
-                    obj = meth(instance)
-            elif hasattr(instance, '__contains__') and fname in instance:
-                # check for a key 'fname' on the instance
-                obj = instance[fname]
-            elif hasattr(instance, smart_str(fname)):
-                # finally check for an attribute 'fname' on the instance
-                obj = getattr(instance, fname)
-            else:
-                continue
-
             try:
+                if hasattr(self, smart_str(fname)):
+                    # check first for a method 'fname' on self first
+                    meth = getattr(self, fname)
+                    if inspect.ismethod(meth) and len(inspect.getargspec(meth)[0]) == 2:
+                        obj = meth(instance)
+                elif hasattr(instance, '__contains__') and fname in instance:
+                    # check for a key 'fname' on the instance
+                    obj = instance[fname]
+                elif hasattr(instance, smart_str(fname)):
+                    # finally check for an attribute 'fname' on the instance
+                    obj = getattr(instance, fname)
+                else:
+                    continue
+
                 key = self.serialize_key(fname)
                 val = self.serialize_val(fname, obj)
                 data[key] = val