diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7e110237d4b..7510e74bcbf 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,3 +6,5 @@ docs/build
 continuous_integration/hdfs-initialized
 .cache
 .#*
+.idea/
+.pytest_cache/
diff --git a/distributed/protocol/__init__.py b/distributed/protocol/__init__.py
index a6a9afaf324..01ac7e8464a 100644
--- a/distributed/protocol/__init__.py
+++ b/distributed/protocol/__init__.py
@@ -37,3 +37,8 @@ def _register_keras():
 @partial(register_serialization_lazy, "sparse")
 def _register_sparse():
     from . import sparse
+
+
+@partial(register_serialization_lazy, "pyarrow")
+def _register_arrow():
+    from . import arrow
diff --git a/distributed/protocol/arrow.py b/distributed/protocol/arrow.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..87c5d05c99f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distributed/protocol/arrow.py
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+from __future__ import print_function, division, absolute_import
+
+from .serialize import register_serialization
+
+
+def serialize_batch(batch):
+    import pyarrow as pa
+    sink = pa.BufferOutputStream()
+    writer = pa.RecordBatchStreamWriter(sink, batch.schema)
+    writer.write_batch(batch)
+    writer.close()
+    buf = sink.get_result()
+    header = {}
+    frames = [buf]
+    return header, frames
+
+
+def deserialize_batch(header, frames):
+    import pyarrow as pa
+    blob = frames[0]
+    reader = pa.RecordBatchStreamReader(pa.BufferReader(blob))
+    return reader.read_next_batch()
+
+
+def serialize_table(tbl):
+    import pyarrow as pa
+    sink = pa.BufferOutputStream()
+    writer = pa.RecordBatchStreamWriter(sink, tbl.schema)
+    writer.write_table(tbl)
+    writer.close()
+    buf = sink.get_result()
+    header = {}
+    frames = [buf]
+    return header, frames
+
+
+def deserialize_table(header, frames):
+    import pyarrow as pa
+    blob = frames[0]
+    reader = pa.RecordBatchStreamReader(pa.BufferReader(blob))
+    return reader.read_all()
+
+
+register_serialization(
+    'pyarrow.lib.RecordBatch',
+    serialize_batch,
+    deserialize_batch
+)
+register_serialization(
+    'pyarrow.lib.Table',
+    serialize_table,
+    deserialize_table
+)
diff --git a/distributed/protocol/tests/test_arrow.py b/distributed/protocol/tests/test_arrow.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6f014bae323
--- /dev/null
+++ b/distributed/protocol/tests/test_arrow.py
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+import pandas as pd
+import pytest
+
+pa = pytest.importorskip('pyarrow')
+
+from distributed.utils_test import gen_cluster
+from distributed.protocol import deserialize, serialize
+from distributed.protocol.serialize import class_serializers, typename
+
+
+df = pd.DataFrame({'A': list('abc'), 'B': [1,2,3]})
+tbl = pa.Table.from_pandas(df, preserve_index=False)
+batch = pa.RecordBatch.from_pandas(df, preserve_index=False)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('obj', [batch, tbl], ids=["RecordBatch", "Table"])
+def test_roundtrip(obj):
+    # Test that the serialize/deserialize functions actually
+    # work independent of distributed
+    header, frames = serialize(obj)
+    new_obj = deserialize(header, frames)
+    assert obj.equals(new_obj)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('obj', [batch, tbl], ids=["RecordBatch", "Table"])
+def test_typename(obj):
+    # The typename used to register the custom serialization is hardcoded
+    # ensure that the typename hasn't changed
+    assert typename(type(obj)) in class_serializers
+
+
+def echo(arg):
+    return arg
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('obj', [batch, tbl], ids=["RecordBatch", "Table"])
+def test_scatter(obj):
+    @gen_cluster(client=True)
+    def run_test(client, scheduler, worker1, worker2):
+        obj_fut = yield client.scatter(obj)
+        fut = client.submit(echo, obj_fut)
+        result = yield fut
+        assert obj.equals(result)
+    run_test()
diff --git a/distributed/utils.py b/distributed/utils.py
index 53495ba60b4..666bb9dd26d 100644
--- a/distributed/utils.py
+++ b/distributed/utils.py
@@ -1266,7 +1266,10 @@ def nbytes(frame, _bytes_like=(bytes, bytearray)):
         if isinstance(frame, _bytes_like):
             return len(frame)
         else:
-            return frame.nbytes
+            try:
+                return frame.nbytes
+            except AttributeError:
+                return len(frame)
 
 
 def PeriodicCallback(callback, callback_time, io_loop=None):