diff --git a/distributed/protocol/pickle.py b/distributed/protocol/pickle.py
index f44c5499cba..af1968c9a1e 100644
--- a/distributed/protocol/pickle.py
+++ b/distributed/protocol/pickle.py
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 from __future__ import print_function, division, absolute_import
 
+import inspect
+from io import BytesIO
 import logging
 import pickle
 
 import cloudpickle
 
+from tornado import gen
+
 from ..utils import ignoring
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__file__)
@@ -19,6 +23,59 @@
 pickle_types = tuple(pickle_types)
 
 
+@gen.coroutine
+def _tornado_coroutine_sample():
+    yield
+
+def is_tornado_coroutine(func):
+    """
+    Return whether *func* is a Tornado coroutine function.
+    Running coroutines are not supported.
+    """
+    return func.__code__ is _tornado_coroutine_sample.__code__
+
+def _rebuild_tornado_coroutine(func):
+    from tornado import gen
+    return gen.coroutine(func)
+
+def _get_wrapped_function(func):
+    try:
+        return func.__wrapped__
+    except AttributeError:
+        pass
+    # On old Pythons, functools.wraps() doesn't set the __wrapped__
+    # attribute.  Hack around it by inspecting captured variables.
+    functions = []
+    for cell in func.__closure__:
+        with ignoring(ValueError):
+            v = cell.cell_contents
+            if inspect.isfunction(v):
+                functions.append(v)
+    if len(functions) != 1:
+        raise RuntimeError("failed to unwrap Tornado coroutine %s: "
+                           "%d candidates found" % (func, len(functions)))
+    return functions[0]
+
+
+class ExtendedPickler(cloudpickle.CloudPickler):
+    """Extended Pickler class with support for Tornado coroutines.
+    """
+
+    def save_function_tuple(self, func):
+        if is_tornado_coroutine(func):
+            self.save_reduce(_rebuild_tornado_coroutine,
+                             (_get_wrapped_function(func),),
+                             obj=func)
+        else:
+            cloudpickle.CloudPickler.save_function_tuple(self, func)
+
+
+def extended_dumps(obj, protocol=2):
+    with BytesIO() as bio:
+        ExtendedPickler(bio, protocol).dump(obj)
+        return bio.getvalue()
+
+
 def dumps(x):
     """ Manage between cloudpickle and pickle
 
@@ -30,17 +87,17 @@ def dumps(x):
         result = pickle.dumps(x, protocol=pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)
         if len(result) < 1000:
             if b'__main__' in result:
-                return cloudpickle.dumps(x, protocol=pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)
+                return extended_dumps(x, protocol=pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)
             else:
                 return result
         else:
             if isinstance(x, pickle_types) or b'__main__' not in result:
                 return result
             else:
-                return cloudpickle.dumps(x, protocol=pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)
-    except:
+                return extended_dumps(x, protocol=pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)
+    except Exception:
         try:
-            return cloudpickle.dumps(x, protocol=pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)
+            return extended_dumps(x, protocol=pickle.HIGHEST_PROTOCOL)
         except Exception:
             logger.info("Failed to serialize %s", x, exc_info=True)
             raise
diff --git a/distributed/protocol/tests/test_pickle.py b/distributed/protocol/tests/test_pickle.py
index 789a8b4dedd..e033f3d06f3 100644
--- a/distributed/protocol/tests/test_pickle.py
+++ b/distributed/protocol/tests/test_pickle.py
@@ -5,6 +5,22 @@
 from operator import add
 from functools import partial
 
+from tornado import gen, ioloop
+
+from distributed.utils_test import gen_test
+
+
+@gen.coroutine
+def coro():
+    yield gen.moment
+
+
+class CoroObject(object):
+    @gen.coroutine
+    def f(self, x):
+        yield gen.moment
+        raise gen.Return(x + 1)
+
 
 def test_pickle_data():
     data = [1, b'123', '123', [123], {}, set()]
@@ -28,3 +44,41 @@ def f(x):  # closure
 
     for func in [f, lambda x: x + 1, partial(add, 1)]:
         assert loads(dumps(func))(1) == func(1)
+
+
+def test_global_coroutine():
+    data = dumps(coro)
+    assert loads(data) is coro
+    # Should be tiny
+    assert len(data) < 80
+
+
+@gen_test()
+def test_local_coroutine():
+    @gen.coroutine
+    def f(x, y):
+        yield gen.sleep(x)
+        raise gen.Return(y + 1)
+
+    @gen.coroutine
+    def g(y):
+        res = yield f(0.01, y)
+        raise gen.Return(res + 1)
+
+    data = dumps([g, g])
+    f = g = None
+    g2, g3 = loads(data)
+    assert g2 is g3
+    res = yield g2(5)
+    assert res == 7
+
+
+@gen_test()
+def test_coroutine_method():
+    obj = CoroObject()
+    data = dumps(obj.f)
+    del obj
+    f2 = loads(data)
+    loop = ioloop.IOLoop.current()
+    res = yield f2(5)
+    assert res == 6