diff --git a/lume.lua b/lume.lua
index 5cf7fc3..cddeae9 100644
--- a/lume.lua
+++ b/lume.lua
@@ -539,10 +539,15 @@ end
 local serialize
 
 local serialize_map = {
-  [ "number"  ] = tostring,
   [ "boolean" ] = tostring,
   [ "nil"     ] = tostring,
   [ "string"  ] = function(v) return string.format("%q", v) end,
+  [ "number"  ] = function(v)
+    if      v ~=  v     then return  "0/0"      --  nan
+    elseif  v ==  1 / 0 then return  "1/0"      --  inf
+    elseif  v == -1 / 0 then return "-1/0" end  -- -inf
+    return tostring(v)
+  end,
   [ "table"   ] = function(t, stk)
     stk = stk or {}
     if stk[t] then error("circular reference") end
diff --git a/test/test.lua b/test/test.lua
index 263224e..9ed3ad3 100644
--- a/test/test.lua
+++ b/test/test.lua
@@ -484,6 +484,10 @@ tests["lume.serialize, lume.deserialize"] = function()
   local t = { 1, 2, 3, 4, true, false, "cat", "dog", {1, 2, 3} }
   local s = lume.serialize(t)
   testeq( lume.deserialize(s), t )
+  testeq( lume.deserialize(lume.serialize(math.huge)), math.huge )
+  testeq( lume.deserialize(lume.serialize(-math.huge)), -math.huge )
+  local x = lume.deserialize(lume.serialize(0 / 0)) -- nan
+  testeq( x ~= x, true )
 end
 
 -- lume.split