diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 872012ed..47d4cf13 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ sparse = [ ]
 debug = [ "approx/num-complex", "rand/std" ]
 alloc = [ ]
 io = [ "pest", "pest_derive" ]
+serde_derive = []   # dummy feature to avoid breakage
 
 [dependencies]
 typenum        = "1.10"
@@ -44,8 +45,7 @@ num-rational   = { version = "0.2", default-features = false }
 approx         = { version = "0.3", default-features = false }
 alga           = { version = "0.9", default-features = false }
 matrixmultiply = { version = "0.2", optional = true }
-serde          = { version = "1.0", optional = true }
-serde_derive   = { version = "1.0", optional = true }
+serde          = { version = "1.0", optional = true, features = ["derive"] }
 abomonation    = { version = "0.7", optional = true }
 mint           = { version = "0.5", optional = true }
 quickcheck     = { version = "0.8", optional = true }
diff --git a/nalgebra-lapack/Cargo.toml b/nalgebra-lapack/Cargo.toml
index 7f632869..1c2d2390 100644
--- a/nalgebra-lapack/Cargo.toml
+++ b/nalgebra-lapack/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ license       = "BSD-3-Clause"
 edition       = "2018"
 
 [features]
-serde-serialize = [ "serde", "serde_derive" ]
+serde-serialize = [ "serde" ]   # kept to avoid breakage; prefer to use serde feature directly
+serde_derive = []   # dummy feature to avoid breakage
 
 # For BLAS/LAPACK
 default    = ["openblas"]
@@ -27,8 +28,7 @@ nalgebra      = { version = "0.18", path = ".." }
 num-traits    = "0.2"
 num-complex   = { version = "0.2", default-features = false }
 alga          = { version = "0.9", default-features = false }
-serde         = { version = "1.0", optional = true }
-serde_derive  = { version = "1.0", optional = true }
+serde         = { version = "1.0", optional = true, features = ["derive"] }
 lapack        = { version = "0.16", default-features = false }
 lapack-src    = { version = "0.2", default-features = false }
 # clippy = "*"
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 59f3420f..08dfcbe2 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -89,10 +89,6 @@ an optimized set of tools for computer graphics and physics. Those features incl
 #![cfg_attr(not(feature = "std"), no_std)]
 #![cfg_attr(all(feature = "alloc", not(feature = "std")), feature(alloc))]
 
-#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
-#[macro_use]
-extern crate serde_derive;
-
 #[macro_use]
 extern crate approx;
 extern crate num_traits as num;