diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index b3bc657..51d1d11 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
   <path id="base.classpath">
     <pathelement location="${classes.dir}"/>
     <fileset dir="${deploy.dir}/lib" includes="*.jar"/>
+    <fileset dir="${javac.home}/lib" includes="${javac.jar}"/>
   </path>
   <path id="build.classpath">
     <path refid="base.classpath"/>
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/ductilej/tests/SerializePrimsTest.java b/src/test/java/org/ductilej/tests/SerializePrimsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..63b1be6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/ductilej/tests/SerializePrimsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+//
+// $Id$
+
+package org.ductilej.tests;
+
+import java.io.*;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+/**
+ * Tests the special handling for unserializing transient primitive fields.
+ */
+public class SerializePrimsTest
+{
+    public static class Record implements Serializable
+    {
+        public transient boolean booleanValue;
+        public transient byte byteValue;
+        public transient short shortValue;
+        public transient char charValue;
+        public transient int intValue;
+        public transient long longValue;
+        public transient float floatValue;
+        public transient double doubleValue;
+    }
+
+    public static class CustomRecord implements Serializable
+    {
+        // these initializations will *not* be done automatically when this object is unserialized
+        // (whether detyped or not), but we're mimicking a situation where a programmer chooses to
+        // have a transient field for which they provide both a constructor-based initializer and a
+        // readObject-based initializer, and we want to make sure that we don't step on their toes
+        public transient boolean booleanValue = true;
+        public transient byte byteValue = 1;
+        public transient short shortValue = 1;
+        public transient char charValue = 1;
+        public transient int intValue = 1;
+        public transient long longValue = 1;
+        public transient float floatValue = 1;
+        public transient double doubleValue = 1;
+
+        // we want to make sure that these non-transient values are still properly handled by the
+        // call to in.defaultReadObject() below
+        public boolean booleanValueS = true;
+        public byte byteValueS = 1;
+        public short shortValueS = 1;
+        public char charValueS = 'a';
+        public int intValueS = 1;
+        public long longValueS = 1;
+        public float floatValueS = 1;
+        public double doubleValueS = 1;
+
+        private void readObject (ObjectInputStream in)
+            throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
+            // the default initializers will be inserted here (above the initializers provided by
+            // the programmer); so though we will do some unnecessary work with our default
+            // initialization, everything will still work correctly
+            booleanValue = true;
+            byteValue = 1;
+            shortValue = 1;
+            charValue = 1;
+            intValue = 1;
+            longValue = 1;
+            floatValue = 1;
+            doubleValue = 1;
+            in.defaultReadObject();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test public void testTransientPrimitives ()
+    {
+        Record r = new Record();
+        Record nr = (Record)fromBytes(toBytes(r));
+
+        assertEquals(r.booleanValue, nr.booleanValue);
+        assertEquals(r.byteValue, nr.byteValue);
+        assertEquals(r.shortValue, nr.shortValue);
+        assertEquals(r.charValue, nr.charValue);
+        assertEquals(r.intValue, nr.intValue);
+        assertEquals(r.longValue, nr.longValue);
+        assertEquals(r.floatValue, nr.floatValue, 0f);
+        assertEquals(r.doubleValue, nr.doubleValue, 0.0);
+    }
+
+    @Test public void testCustomTransientPrimitives ()
+    {
+        CustomRecord r = new CustomRecord();
+        CustomRecord nr = (CustomRecord)fromBytes(toBytes(r));
+
+        assertEquals(r.booleanValue, nr.booleanValue);
+        assertEquals(r.byteValue, nr.byteValue);
+        assertEquals(r.shortValue, nr.shortValue);
+        assertEquals(r.charValue, nr.charValue);
+        assertEquals(r.intValue, nr.intValue);
+        assertEquals(r.longValue, nr.longValue);
+        assertEquals(r.floatValue, nr.floatValue, 0f);
+        assertEquals(r.doubleValue, nr.doubleValue, 0.0);
+
+        assertEquals(r.booleanValueS, nr.booleanValueS);
+        assertEquals(r.byteValueS, nr.byteValueS);
+        assertEquals(r.shortValueS, nr.shortValueS);
+        assertEquals(r.charValueS, nr.charValueS);
+        assertEquals(r.intValueS, nr.intValueS);
+        assertEquals(r.longValueS, nr.longValueS);
+        assertEquals(r.floatValueS, nr.floatValueS, 0f);
+        assertEquals(r.doubleValueS, nr.doubleValueS, 0.0);
+    }
+
+    public static byte[] toBytes (Serializable s)
+    {
+        try {
+            ByteArrayOutputStream bout = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+            ObjectOutputStream out = new ObjectOutputStream(bout);
+            out.writeObject(s);
+            out.close();
+            return bout.toByteArray();
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static Object fromBytes (byte[] bytes)
+    {
+        try {
+            ObjectInputStream oin = new ObjectInputStream(new ByteArrayInputStream(bytes));
+            return oin.readObject();
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+}