diff --git a/base/multi.jl b/base/multi.jl
index 38aab509dc45f..5b9b5ad789c3b 100644
--- a/base/multi.jl
+++ b/base/multi.jl
@@ -37,19 +37,36 @@ end
 hash(r::RRID, h::UInt) = hash(r.whence, hash(r.id, h))
 ==(r::RRID, s::RRID) = (r.whence==s.whence && r.id==s.id)
 
+## Wire format description
+#
+# Each message has three parts, which are written in order to the worker's stream.
+#  1) A header of type MsgHeader is serialized to the stream (via `serialize`).
+#  2) A message of type AbstractMsg is then serialized.
+#  3) Finally, a fixed bounday of 10 bytes is written.
+
+# Message header stored separately from body to be able to send back errors if
+# a deserialization error occurs when reading the message body.
+type MsgHeader
+    response_oid::RRID
+    notify_oid::RRID
+end
+
+# Special oid (0,0) uses to indicate a null ID.
+# Used instead of Nullable to decrease wire size of header.
+null_id(id) =  id == RRID(0, 0)
+
+MsgHeader(;response_oid::RRID=RRID(0,0), notify_oid::RRID=RRID(0,0)) =
+    MsgHeader(response_oid, notify_oid)
 
 type CallMsg{Mode} <: AbstractMsg
     f::Function
     args::Tuple
     kwargs::Array
-    response_oid::RRID
 end
 type CallWaitMsg <: AbstractMsg
     f::Function
     args::Tuple
     kwargs::Array
-    response_oid::RRID
-    notify_oid::RRID
 end
 type RemoteDoMsg <: AbstractMsg
     f::Function
@@ -57,10 +74,10 @@ type RemoteDoMsg <: AbstractMsg
     kwargs::Array
 end
 type ResultMsg <: AbstractMsg
-    response_oid::RRID
     value::Any
 end
 
+
 # Worker initialization messages
 type IdentifySocketMsg <: AbstractMsg
     from_pid::Int
@@ -70,34 +87,32 @@ end
 type JoinPGRPMsg <: AbstractMsg
     self_pid::Int
     other_workers::Array
-    notify_oid::RRID
     topology::Symbol
     worker_pool
 end
 type JoinCompleteMsg <: AbstractMsg
-    notify_oid::RRID
     cpu_cores::Int
     ospid::Int
 end
 
-function send_msg_unknown(s::IO, msg)
+function send_msg_unknown(s::IO, header, msg)
     error("attempt to send to unknown socket")
 end
 
-function send_msg(s::IO, msg)
+function send_msg(s::IO, header, msg)
     id = worker_id_from_socket(s)
     if id > -1
-        return send_msg(worker_from_id(id), msg)
+        return send_msg(worker_from_id(id), header, msg)
     end
-    send_msg_unknown(s, msg)
+    send_msg_unknown(s, header, msg)
 end
 
-function send_msg_now(s::IO, msg::AbstractMsg)
+function send_msg_now(s::IO, msghdr, msg::AbstractMsg)
     id = worker_id_from_socket(s)
     if id > -1
-        return send_msg_now(worker_from_id(id), msg)
+        return send_msg_now(worker_from_id(id), msghdr, msg)
     end
-    send_msg_unknown(s, msg)
+    send_msg_unknown(s, msghdr, msg)
 end
 
 abstract ClusterManager
@@ -197,12 +212,12 @@ function set_worker_state(w, state)
     notify(w.c_state; all=true)
 end
 
-function send_msg_now(w::Worker, msg)
-    send_msg_(w, msg, true)
+function send_msg_now(w::Worker, msghdr, msg)
+    send_msg_(w, msghdr, msg, true)
 end
 
-function send_msg(w::Worker, msg)
-    send_msg_(w, msg, false)
+function send_msg(w::Worker, msghdr, msg)
+    send_msg_(w, msghdr, msg, false)
 end
 
 function flush_gc_msgs(w::Worker)
@@ -241,14 +256,20 @@ function check_worker_state(w::Worker)
     end
 end
 
+# Boundary inserted between messages on the wire, used for recovering
+# from deserialization errors. Picked arbitrarily.
+# A size of 10 bytes indicates ~ ~1e24 possible boundaries, so chance of collision with message contents is trivial.
+const MSG_BOUNDARY = UInt8[0x79, 0x8e, 0x8e, 0xf5, 0x6e, 0x9b, 0x2e, 0x97, 0xd5, 0x7d]
 
-function send_msg_(w::Worker, msg, now::Bool)
+function send_msg_(w::Worker, header, msg, now::Bool)
     check_worker_state(w)
     io = w.w_stream
     lock(io.lock)
     try
         reset_state(w.w_serializer)
+        serialize(w.w_serializer, header)
         serialize(w.w_serializer, msg)  # io is wrapped in w_serializer
+        write(io, MSG_BOUNDARY)
 
         if !now && w.gcflag
             flush_gc_msgs(w)
@@ -768,7 +789,6 @@ function showerror(io::IO, re::RemoteException)
     showerror(io, re.captured)
 end
 
-
 function run_work_thunk(thunk, print_error)
     local result
     try
@@ -811,7 +831,7 @@ end
 function remotecall(f, w::Worker, args...; kwargs...)
     rr = Future(w)
     #println("$(myid()) asking for $rr")
-    send_msg(w, CallMsg{:call}(f, args, kwargs, remoteref_id(rr)))
+    send_msg(w, MsgHeader(response_oid=remoteref_id(rr)), CallMsg{:call}(f, args, kwargs))
     rr
 end
 
@@ -829,7 +849,7 @@ function remotecall_fetch(f, w::Worker, args...; kwargs...)
     oid = RRID()
     rv = lookup_ref(oid)
     rv.waitingfor = w.id
-    send_msg(w, CallMsg{:call_fetch}(f, args, kwargs, oid))
+    send_msg(w, MsgHeader(response_oid=oid), CallMsg{:call_fetch}(f, args, kwargs))
     v = take!(rv)
     delete!(PGRP.refs, oid)
     isa(v, RemoteException) ? throw(v) : v
@@ -846,7 +866,7 @@ function remotecall_wait(f, w::Worker, args...; kwargs...)
     rv = lookup_ref(prid)
     rv.waitingfor = w.id
     rr = Future(w)
-    send_msg(w, CallWaitMsg(f, args, kwargs, remoteref_id(rr), prid))
+    send_msg(w, MsgHeader(response_oid=remoteref_id(rr), notify_oid=prid), CallWaitMsg(f, args, kwargs))
     v = fetch(rv.c)
     delete!(PGRP.refs, prid)
     isa(v, RemoteException) && throw(v)
@@ -866,7 +886,7 @@ function remote_do(f, w::LocalProcess, args...; kwargs...)
 end
 
 function remote_do(f, w::Worker, args...; kwargs...)
-    send_msg(w, RemoteDoMsg(f, args, kwargs))
+    send_msg(w, MsgHeader(), RemoteDoMsg(f, args, kwargs))
     nothing
 end
 
@@ -952,13 +972,13 @@ close(rr::RemoteChannel) = call_on_owner(close_ref, rr)
 
 function deliver_result(sock::IO, msg, oid, value)
     #print("$(myid()) sending result $oid\n")
-    if is(msg,:call_fetch) || isa(value, RemoteException)
+    if is(msg, :call_fetch) || isa(value, RemoteException)
         val = value
     else
         val = :OK
     end
     try
-        send_msg_now(sock, ResultMsg(oid, val))
+        send_msg_now(sock, MsgHeader(response_oid=oid), ResultMsg(val))
     catch e
         # terminate connection in case of serialization error
         # otherwise the reading end would hang
@@ -996,28 +1016,73 @@ function process_messages(r_stream::IO, w_stream::IO, incoming=true)
 end
 
 function message_handler_loop(r_stream::IO, w_stream::IO, incoming::Bool)
+    wpid=0          # the worker r_stream is connected to.
+    boundary = similar(MSG_BOUNDARY)
     try
         version = process_hdr(r_stream, incoming)
         serializer = ClusterSerializer(r_stream)
+
+        # The first message will associate wpid with r_stream
+        msghdr = deserialize(serializer)
+        msg = deserialize(serializer)
+        readbytes!(r_stream, boundary, length(MSG_BOUNDARY))
+
+        handle_msg(msg, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+        wpid = worker_id_from_socket(r_stream)
+
+        @assert wpid > 0
+
         while true
             reset_state(serializer)
-            msg = deserialize(serializer)
-            # println("got msg: ", msg)
-            handle_msg(msg, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+            msghdr = deserialize(serializer)
+#            println("msghdr: ", msghdr)
+
+            try
+                msg = deserialize(serializer)
+            catch e
+                # Deserialization error; discard bytes in stream until boundary found
+                boundary_idx = 1
+                while true
+                    # This may throw an EOF error if the terminal boundary was not written
+                    # correctly, triggering the higher-scoped catch block below
+                    byte = read(r_stream, UInt8)
+                    if byte == MSG_BOUNDARY[boundary_idx]
+                        boundary_idx += 1
+                        if boundary_idx > length(MSG_BOUNDARY)
+                            break
+                        end
+                    else
+                        boundary_idx = 1
+                    end
+                end
+ #               println("Deserialization error.")
+                remote_err = RemoteException(myid(), CapturedException(e, catch_backtrace()))
+                if !null_id(msghdr.response_oid)
+                    ref = lookup_ref(msghdr.response_oid)
+                    put!(ref, remote_err)
+                end
+                if !null_id(msghdr.notify_oid)
+                    deliver_result(w_stream, :call_fetch, msghdr.notify_oid, remote_err)
+                end
+                continue
+            end
+            readbytes!(r_stream, boundary, length(MSG_BOUNDARY))
+
+  #          println("got msg: ", typeof(msg))
+            handle_msg(msg, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
         end
     catch e
         # println(STDERR, "Process($(myid())) - Exception ", e)
-        iderr = worker_id_from_socket(r_stream)
-        if (iderr < 1)
+        if (wpid < 1)
             println(STDERR, e)
             println(STDERR, "Process($(myid())) - Unknown remote, closing connection.")
         else
-            werr = worker_from_id(iderr)
+            werr = worker_from_id(wpid)
             oldstate = werr.state
             set_worker_state(werr, W_TERMINATED)
 
-            # If error occured talking to pid 1, commit harakiri
-            if iderr == 1
+            # If unhandleable error occured talking to pid 1, exit
+            if wpid == 1
                 if isopen(w_stream)
                     print(STDERR, "fatal error on ", myid(), ": ")
                     display_error(e, catch_backtrace())
@@ -1028,15 +1093,15 @@ function message_handler_loop(r_stream::IO, w_stream::IO, incoming::Bool)
             # Will treat any exception as death of node and cleanup
             # since currently we do not have a mechanism for workers to reconnect
             # to each other on unhandled errors
-            deregister_worker(iderr)
+            deregister_worker(wpid)
         end
 
         isopen(r_stream) && close(r_stream)
         isopen(w_stream) && close(w_stream)
 
-        if (myid() == 1) && (iderr > 1)
+        if (myid() == 1) && (wpid > 1)
             if oldstate != W_TERMINATING
-                println(STDERR, "Worker $iderr terminated.")
+                println(STDERR, "Worker $wpid terminated.")
                 rethrow(e)
             end
         end
@@ -1071,44 +1136,44 @@ function process_hdr(s, validate_cookie)
     return VersionNumber(strip(String(version)))
 end
 
-function handle_msg(msg::CallMsg{:call}, r_stream, w_stream, version)
-    schedule_call(msg.response_oid, ()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...))
+function handle_msg(msg::CallMsg{:call}, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+    schedule_call(msghdr.response_oid, ()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...))
 end
-function handle_msg(msg::CallMsg{:call_fetch}, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+function handle_msg(msg::CallMsg{:call_fetch}, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
     @schedule begin
         v = run_work_thunk(()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...), false)
-        deliver_result(w_stream, :call_fetch, msg.response_oid, v)
+        deliver_result(w_stream, :call_fetch, msghdr.response_oid, v)
     end
 end
 
-function handle_msg(msg::CallWaitMsg, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+function handle_msg(msg::CallWaitMsg, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
     @schedule begin
-        rv = schedule_call(msg.response_oid, ()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...))
-        deliver_result(w_stream, :call_wait, msg.notify_oid, fetch(rv.c))
+        rv = schedule_call(msghdr.response_oid, ()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...))
+        deliver_result(w_stream, :call_wait, msghdr.notify_oid, fetch(rv.c))
     end
 end
 
-function handle_msg(msg::RemoteDoMsg, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+function handle_msg(msg::RemoteDoMsg, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
     @schedule run_work_thunk(()->msg.f(msg.args...; msg.kwargs...), true)
 end
 
-function handle_msg(msg::ResultMsg, r_stream, w_stream, version)
-    put!(lookup_ref(msg.response_oid), msg.value)
+function handle_msg(msg::ResultMsg, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+    put!(lookup_ref(msghdr.response_oid), msg.value)
 end
 
-function handle_msg(msg::IdentifySocketMsg, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+function handle_msg(msg::IdentifySocketMsg, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
     # register a new peer worker connection
     w=Worker(msg.from_pid, r_stream, w_stream, cluster_manager; version=version)
     send_connection_hdr(w, false)
-    send_msg_now(w, IdentifySocketAckMsg())
+    send_msg_now(w, MsgHeader(), IdentifySocketAckMsg())
 end
 
-function handle_msg(msg::IdentifySocketAckMsg, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+function handle_msg(msg::IdentifySocketAckMsg, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
     w = map_sock_wrkr[r_stream]
     w.version = version
 end
 
-function handle_msg(msg::JoinPGRPMsg, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+function handle_msg(msg::JoinPGRPMsg, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
     LPROC.id = msg.self_pid
     controller = Worker(1, r_stream, w_stream, cluster_manager; version=version)
     register_worker(LPROC)
@@ -1129,7 +1194,7 @@ function handle_msg(msg::JoinPGRPMsg, r_stream, w_stream, version)
 
     set_default_worker_pool(msg.worker_pool)
     send_connection_hdr(controller, false)
-    send_msg_now(controller, JoinCompleteMsg(msg.notify_oid, Sys.CPU_CORES, getpid()))
+    send_msg_now(controller, MsgHeader(notify_oid=msghdr.notify_oid), JoinCompleteMsg(Sys.CPU_CORES, getpid()))
 end
 
 function connect_to_peer(manager::ClusterManager, rpid::Int, wconfig::WorkerConfig)
@@ -1138,7 +1203,7 @@ function connect_to_peer(manager::ClusterManager, rpid::Int, wconfig::WorkerConf
         w = Worker(rpid, r_s, w_s, manager; config=wconfig)
         process_messages(w.r_stream, w.w_stream, false)
         send_connection_hdr(w, true)
-        send_msg_now(w, IdentifySocketMsg(myid()))
+        send_msg_now(w, MsgHeader(), IdentifySocketMsg(myid()))
     catch e
         display_error(e, catch_backtrace())
         println(STDERR, "Error [$e] on $(myid()) while connecting to peer $rpid. Exiting.")
@@ -1146,7 +1211,7 @@ function connect_to_peer(manager::ClusterManager, rpid::Int, wconfig::WorkerConf
     end
 end
 
-function handle_msg(msg::JoinCompleteMsg, r_stream, w_stream, version)
+function handle_msg(msg::JoinCompleteMsg, msghdr, r_stream, w_stream, version)
     w = map_sock_wrkr[r_stream]
     environ = get(w.config.environ, Dict())
     environ[:cpu_cores] = msg.cpu_cores
@@ -1154,7 +1219,7 @@ function handle_msg(msg::JoinCompleteMsg, r_stream, w_stream, version)
     w.config.ospid = msg.ospid
     w.version = version
 
-    ntfy_channel = lookup_ref(msg.notify_oid)
+    ntfy_channel = lookup_ref(msghdr.notify_oid)
     put!(ntfy_channel, w.id)
 
     push!(default_worker_pool(), w)
@@ -1478,7 +1543,7 @@ function create_worker(manager, wconfig)
 
     all_locs = map(x -> isa(x, Worker) ? (get(x.config.connect_at, ()), x.id) : ((), x.id, true), join_list)
     send_connection_hdr(w, true)
-    send_msg_now(w, JoinPGRPMsg(w.id, all_locs, ntfy_oid, PGRP.topology, default_worker_pool()))
+    send_msg_now(w, MsgHeader(notify_oid=ntfy_oid), JoinPGRPMsg(w.id, all_locs, PGRP.topology, default_worker_pool()))
 
     @schedule manage(w.manager, w.id, w.config, :register)
     wait(rr_ntfy_join)
diff --git a/test/parallel_exec.jl b/test/parallel_exec.jl
index 978204b210628..4c5eb78c5cd73 100644
--- a/test/parallel_exec.jl
+++ b/test/parallel_exec.jl
@@ -1025,3 +1025,13 @@ f_myid = ()->myid()
 @test wrkr1 == remotecall_fetch(f_myid, wrkr1)
 @test wrkr2 == remotecall_fetch(f_myid, wrkr2)
 @test wrkr2 == remotecall_fetch((f, p)->remotecall_fetch(f, p), wrkr1, f_myid, wrkr2)
+
+# Deserialization error recovery test
+let
+    bad_thunk = ()->NonexistantModule.f()
+    @test_throws RemoteException remotecall_fetch(bad_thunk, 2)
+    # Test that the stream is still usable
+    @test remotecall_fetch(()->:test,2) == :test
+    ref = remotecall(bad_thunk, 2)
+    @test_throws RemoteException fetch(ref)
+end