diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8a9149cf1..1c5c56e22 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ There is also a sandbox API you can use for testing purposes, [available here][s
 
 * [Markdown] - Markdown support for the self describing API.
 * [PyYAML] - YAML content type support.
+* [msgpack-python] - MessagePack content type support.
+* [python-dateutil] - Date parsing for MessagePack.
 * [django-filter] - Filtering support.
 
 # Installation
@@ -284,4 +286,5 @@ OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 [markdown]: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/Markdown/
 [pyyaml]: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyYAML
 [django-filter]: https://github.com/alex/django-filter
-
+[msgpack-python]: https://github.com/msgpack/msgpack-python
+[python-dateutil]: http://labix.org/python-dateutil
diff --git a/docs/api-guide/parsers.md b/docs/api-guide/parsers.md
index 185b616cb..3fed786d7 100644
--- a/docs/api-guide/parsers.md
+++ b/docs/api-guide/parsers.md
@@ -61,6 +61,12 @@ Parses `YAML` request content.
 
 **.media_type**: `application/yaml`
 
+## MessagePackParser
+
+Parses `MessagePack` request content.
+
+**.media_type**: `application/msgpack`
+
 ## XMLParser
 
 Parses REST framework's default style of `XML` request content.
diff --git a/docs/api-guide/renderers.md b/docs/api-guide/renderers.md
index 374ff0ab2..c4d160961 100644
--- a/docs/api-guide/renderers.md
+++ b/docs/api-guide/renderers.md
@@ -94,6 +94,14 @@ Renders the request data into `YAML`.
 
 **.format**: `'.yaml'`
 
+## MessagePackRenderer
+
+Renders the request data into `MessagePack`.
+
+**.media_type**: `application/msgpack`
+
+**.format**: `'.msgpack'`
+
 ## XMLRenderer
 
 Renders REST framework's default style of `XML` response content.
diff --git a/docs/index.md b/docs/index.md
index 080eca6f2..483482c3c 100644
--- a/docs/index.md
+++ b/docs/index.md
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ The following packages are optional:
 * [Markdown][markdown] (2.1.0+) - Markdown support for the browseable API.
 * [PyYAML][yaml] (3.10+) - YAML content-type support.
 * [django-filter][django-filter] (0.5.4+) - Filtering support.
+* [python-dateutil] - Date parsing for MessagePack.
+* [django-filter] - Filtering support.
 
 ## Installation
 
@@ -167,6 +169,8 @@ OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 [markdown]: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/Markdown/
 [yaml]: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyYAML
 [django-filter]: https://github.com/alex/django-filter
+[msgpack-python]: https://github.com/msgpack/msgpack-python
+[python-dateutil]: http://labix.org/python-dateutil
 [0.4]: https://github.com/tomchristie/django-rest-framework/tree/0.4.X
 [image]: img/quickstart.png
 [sandbox]: http://restframework.herokuapp.com/
diff --git a/optionals.txt b/optionals.txt
index 1d2358c6e..338b300fe 100644
--- a/optionals.txt
+++ b/optionals.txt
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
 markdown>=2.1.0
 PyYAML>=3.10
 django-filter>=0.5.4
+msgpack-python>=0.2.4
+python-dateutil==2.1
diff --git a/rest_framework/compat.py b/rest_framework/compat.py
index 5508f6c05..89e438424 100644
--- a/rest_framework/compat.py
+++ b/rest_framework/compat.py
@@ -391,6 +391,19 @@ except ImportError:
     yaml = None
 
 
+# MessagePack is optional
+try:
+    import msgpack
+except ImportError:
+    msgpack = None
+
+# dateutil is optional
+try:
+    from dateutil import parser as dateutil_parser
+except ImportError:
+    dateutil_parser = None
+
+
 # xml.etree.parse only throws ParseError for python >= 2.7
 try:
     from xml.etree import ParseError as ETParseError
diff --git a/rest_framework/parsers.py b/rest_framework/parsers.py
index 149d64311..05b144e26 100644
--- a/rest_framework/parsers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/parsers.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ on the request, such as form content or json encoded data.
 from django.http import QueryDict
 from django.http.multipartparser import MultiPartParser as DjangoMultiPartParser
 from django.http.multipartparser import MultiPartParserError
-from rest_framework.compat import yaml, ETParseError
+from rest_framework.compat import yaml, msgpack, dateutil_parser, ETParseError
 from rest_framework.exceptions import ParseError
 from xml.etree import ElementTree as ET
 from xml.parsers.expat import ExpatError
@@ -80,6 +80,40 @@ class YAMLParser(BaseParser):
             raise ParseError('YAML parse error - %s' % unicode(exc))
 
 
+class MessagePackParser(BaseParser):
+    """
+    Parses MessagePack-serialized data.
+    """
+
+    media_type = 'application/msgpack'
+
+    def parse(self, stream, media_type=None, parser_context=None):
+        """
+        Returns a 2-tuple of `(data, files)`.
+
+        `data` will be an object which is the parsed content of the response.
+        `files` will always be `None`.
+        """
+        try:
+            return msgpack.unpackb(stream,
+                use_list=True,
+                object_hook=self._decode_object)
+        except Exception, exc:
+            raise ParseError('MessagePack parse error - %s' % unicode(exc))
+
+    def _decode_object(self, obj):
+        if dateutil_parser:
+            if '__datetime__' in obj:
+                return dateutil_parser.parse(obj['as_str'])
+            elif b'__date__' in obj:
+                return dateutil_parser.parse(obj['as_str']).date()
+            elif b'__time__' in obj:
+                return dateutil_parser.parse(obj['as_str']).time()
+        if b'__decimal__' in obj:
+                return decimal.Decimal(obj['as_str'])
+        return obj
+
+
 class FormParser(BaseParser):
     """
     Parser for form data.
diff --git a/rest_framework/renderers.py b/rest_framework/renderers.py
index 0a34abaa0..ea5341adc 100644
--- a/rest_framework/renderers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/renderers.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import json
 from django import forms
 from django.http.multipartparser import parse_header
 from django.template import RequestContext, loader, Template
-from rest_framework.compat import yaml
+from rest_framework.compat import yaml, msgpack
 from rest_framework.exceptions import ConfigurationError
 from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
 from rest_framework.request import clone_request
@@ -139,6 +139,23 @@ class YAMLRenderer(BaseRenderer):
         return yaml.dump(data, stream=None, Dumper=self.encoder)
 
 
+class MessagePackRenderer(BaseRenderer):
+    """
+    Renderer which serializes to MessagePack.
+    """
+
+    media_type = 'application/msgpack'
+    format = 'msgpack'
+
+    def render(self, data, accepted_media_type=None, renderer_context=None):
+        """
+        Renders *obj* into serialized MessagePack.
+        """
+        if data is None:
+            return ''
+        return msgpack.packb(data, default=encoders.msgpack_encoder)
+
+
 class TemplateHTMLRenderer(BaseRenderer):
     """
     An HTML renderer for use with templates.
diff --git a/rest_framework/tests/renderers.py b/rest_framework/tests/renderers.py
index c1b4e624b..0b8317e6b 100644
--- a/rest_framework/tests/renderers.py
+++ b/rest_framework/tests/renderers.py
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ from django.test import TestCase
 from django.test.client import RequestFactory
 
 from rest_framework import status, permissions
-from rest_framework.compat import yaml, patterns, url, include
+from rest_framework.compat import yaml, msgpack, patterns, url, include
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 from rest_framework.views import APIView
 from rest_framework.renderers import BaseRenderer, JSONRenderer, YAMLRenderer, \
-    XMLRenderer, JSONPRenderer, BrowsableAPIRenderer
-from rest_framework.parsers import YAMLParser, XMLParser
+    XMLRenderer, JSONPRenderer, MessagePackRenderer, BrowsableAPIRenderer
+from rest_framework.parsers import YAMLParser, XMLParser, MessagePackParser
 from rest_framework.settings import api_settings
 
 from StringIO import StringIO
@@ -323,6 +323,38 @@ if yaml:
             self.assertEquals(obj, data)
 
 
+if msgpack:
+    _msgpack_repr = '\x81\xa3foo\x92\xa3bar\xa3baz'
+
+    class MessagePackRendererTests(TestCase):
+        """
+        Tests specific to the MessagePack Renderer
+        """
+
+        def test_render(self):
+            """
+            Test basic MessagePack rendering.
+            """
+            obj = {'foo': ['bar', 'baz']}
+            renderer = MessagePackRenderer()
+            content = renderer.render(obj, 'application/msgpack')
+            self.assertEquals(content, _msgpack_repr)
+
+        def test_render_and_parse(self):
+            """
+            Test rendering and then parsing returns the original object.
+            IE obj -> render -> parse -> obj.
+            """
+            obj = {'foo': ['bar', 'baz']}
+
+            renderer = MessagePackRenderer()
+            parser = MessagePackParser()
+
+            content = renderer.render(obj, 'application/msgpack')
+            data = parser.parse(content)
+            self.assertEquals(obj, data)
+
+
 class XMLRendererTestCase(TestCase):
     """
     Tests specific to the XML Renderer
diff --git a/rest_framework/utils/encoders.py b/rest_framework/utils/encoders.py
index c70b24dda..7015a009f 100644
--- a/rest_framework/utils/encoders.py
+++ b/rest_framework/utils/encoders.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import decimal
 import types
 import json
 from django.utils.datastructures import SortedDict
-from rest_framework.compat import timezone
+from rest_framework.compat import timezone, msgpack
 from rest_framework.serializers import DictWithMetadata, SortedDictWithMetadata
 
 
@@ -89,3 +89,19 @@ else:
             yaml.representer.SafeRepresenter.represent_dict)
     SafeDumper.add_representer(types.GeneratorType,
             yaml.representer.SafeRepresenter.represent_list)
+
+
+if msgpack:
+    def msgpack_encoder(obj):
+        if isinstance(obj, datetime.datetime):
+            return {'__datetime__': True, 'as_str': obj.isoformat()}
+        elif isinstance(obj, datetime.date):
+            return {'__date__': True, 'as_str': obj.isoformat()}
+        elif isinstance(obj, datetime.time):
+            return {'__time__': True, 'as_str': obj.isoformat()}
+        elif isinstance(obj, decimal.Decimal):
+            return {'__decimal__': True, 'as_str': str(obj)}
+        else:
+            return obj
+else:
+    msgpack_encoder = None