diff --git a/spacy/language.py b/spacy/language.py
index ddafab63d..36ee9d8fc 100644
--- a/spacy/language.py
+++ b/spacy/language.py
@@ -366,20 +366,22 @@ class Language(object):
             >>> nlp.to_disk('/path/to/models')
         """
         path = util.ensure_path(path)
-        if not path.exists():
-            path.mkdir()
-        if not path.is_dir():
-            raise IOError("Output path must be a directory")
-        props = {}
-        for name, value in self.__dict__.items():
-            if name in disable:
-                continue
-            if hasattr(value, 'to_disk'):
-                value.to_disk(path / name)
-            else:
-                props[name] = value
-        with (path / 'props.pickle').open('wb') as file_:
-            dill.dump(props, file_)
+        with path.open('wb') as file_:
+            file_.write(self.to_bytes(disable))
+        #serializers = {
+        #    'vocab': lambda p: self.vocab.to_disk(p),
+        #    'tokenizer': lambda p: self.tokenizer.to_disk(p, vocab=False),
+        #    'meta.json': lambda p: ujson.dump(p.open('w'), self.meta)
+        #}
+        #for proc in self.pipeline:
+        #    if not hasattr(proc, 'name'):
+        #        continue
+        #    if proc.name in disable:
+        #        continue
+        #    if not hasattr(proc, 'to_disk'):
+        #        continue
+        #    serializers[proc.name] = lambda p: proc.to_disk(p, vocab=False)
+        #util.to_disk(serializers, path)
 
     def from_disk(self, path, disable=[]):
         """Loads state from a directory. Modifies the object in place and
@@ -396,13 +398,24 @@ class Language(object):
             >>> nlp = Language().from_disk('/path/to/models')
         """
         path = util.ensure_path(path)
-        for name in path.iterdir():
-            if name not in disable and hasattr(self, str(name)):
-                getattr(self, name).from_disk(path / name)
-        with (path / 'props.pickle').open('rb') as file_:
+        with path.open('rb') as file_:
             bytes_data = file_.read()
-        self.from_bytes(bytes_data, disable)
-        return self
+        return self.from_bytes(bytes_data, disable)
+        #deserializers = {
+        #    'vocab': lambda p: self.vocab.from_disk(p),
+        #    'tokenizer': lambda p: self.tokenizer.from_disk(p, vocab=False),
+        #    'meta.json': lambda p: ujson.dump(p.open('w'), self.meta)
+        #}
+        #for proc in self.pipeline:
+        #    if not hasattr(proc, 'name'):
+        #        continue
+        #    if proc.name in disable:
+        #        continue
+        #    if not hasattr(proc, 'to_disk'):
+        #        continue
+        #    deserializers[proc.name] = lambda p: proc.from_disk(p, vocab=False)
+        #util.from_disk(deserializers, path)
+        #return self
 
     def to_bytes(self, disable=[]):
         """Serialize the current state to a binary string.
@@ -411,11 +424,20 @@ class Language(object):
             from being serialized.
         RETURNS (bytes): The serialized form of the `Language` object.
         """
-        props = dict(self.__dict__)
-        for key in disable:
-            if key in props:
-                props.pop(key)
-        return dill.dumps(props, -1)
+        serializers = {
+            'vocab': lambda: self.vocab.to_bytes(),
+            'tokenizer': lambda: self.tokenizer.to_bytes(vocab=False),
+            'meta': lambda: ujson.dumps(self.meta)
+        }
+        for proc in self.pipeline:
+            if not hasattr(proc, 'name'):
+                continue
+            if proc.name in disable:
+                continue
+            if not hasattr(proc, 'to_bytes'):
+                continue
+            serializers[proc.name] = lambda: proc.to_bytes(p, vocab=False)
+        return util.to_bytes(serializers)
 
     def from_bytes(self, bytes_data, disable=[]):
         """Load state from a binary string.
@@ -424,12 +446,23 @@ class Language(object):
         disable (list): Names of the pipeline components to disable.
         RETURNS (Language): The `Language` object.
         """
-        props = dill.loads(bytes_data)
-        for key, value in props.items():
-            if key not in disable:
-                setattr(self, key, value)
+        deserializers = {
+            'vocab': lambda b: self.vocab.from_bytes(b),
+            'tokenizer': lambda b: self.tokenizer.from_bytes(b, vocab=False),
+            'meta': lambda b: self.meta.update(ujson.loads(b))
+        }
+        for proc in self.pipeline:
+            if not hasattr(proc, 'name'):
+                continue
+            if proc.name in disable:
+                continue
+            if not hasattr(proc, 'to_disk'):
+                continue
+            deserializers[proc.name] = lambda b: proc.from_bytes(b, vocab=False)
+        util.from_bytes(deserializers, bytes_data)
         return self
 
+
 def _pipe(func, docs):
     for doc in docs:
         func(doc)
diff --git a/spacy/pipeline.pyx b/spacy/pipeline.pyx
index 236916c8b..a4d936a70 100644
--- a/spacy/pipeline.pyx
+++ b/spacy/pipeline.pyx
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@ from .syntax import nonproj
 
 from .attrs import ID, LOWER, PREFIX, SUFFIX, SHAPE, TAG, DEP, POS
 from ._ml import rebatch, Tok2Vec, flatten, get_col, doc2feats
-from ._ml import model_to_bytes, model_from_bytes
 from .parts_of_speech import X
 
 
@@ -160,36 +159,33 @@ class TokenVectorEncoder(object):
 
     def to_bytes(self, **exclude):
         serialize = {
-            'model': lambda: model_to_bytes(self.model),
+            'model': lambda: util.model_to_bytes(self.model),
             'vocab': lambda: self.vocab.to_bytes()
         }
         return util.to_bytes(serialize, exclude)
 
     def from_bytes(self, bytes_data, **exclude):
         deserialize = {
-            'model': lambda b: model_from_bytes(self.model, b),
+            'model': lambda b: util.model_from_bytes(self.model, b),
             'vocab': lambda b: self.vocab.from_bytes(b)
         }
         util.from_bytes(deserialize, exclude)
         return self
 
     def to_disk(self, path, **exclude):
-        path = util.ensure_path(path)
-        if not path.exists():
-            path.mkdir()
-        if 'vocab' not in exclude:
-            self.vocab.to_disk(path / 'vocab')
-        if 'model' not in exclude:
-            with (path / 'model.bin').open('wb') as file_:
-                file_.write(util.model_to_bytes(self.model))
+        serialize = {
+            'model': lambda p: p.open('w').write(util.model_to_bytes(self.model)),
+            'vocab': lambda p: self.vocab.to_disk(p)
+        }
+        util.to_disk(path, serialize, exclude)
 
     def from_disk(self, path, **exclude):
-        path = util.ensure_path(path)
-        if 'vocab' not in exclude:
-            self.vocab.from_disk(path / 'vocab')
-        if 'model.bin' not in exclude:
-            with (path / 'model.bin').open('rb') as file_:
-                util.model_from_bytes(self.model, file_.read())
+        deserialize = {
+            'model': lambda p: util.model_from_bytes(self.model, p.open('rb').read()),
+            'vocab': lambda p: self.vocab.from_disk(p)
+        }
+        util.from_disk(path, deserialize, exclude)
+        return self
 
 
 class NeuralTagger(object):
@@ -291,19 +287,33 @@ class NeuralTagger(object):
 
     def to_bytes(self, **exclude):
         serialize = {
-            'model': lambda: model_to_bytes(self.model),
+            'model': lambda: util.model_to_bytes(self.model),
             'vocab': lambda: self.vocab.to_bytes()
         }
         return util.to_bytes(serialize, exclude)
 
     def from_bytes(self, bytes_data, **exclude):
         deserialize = {
-            'model': lambda b: model_from_bytes(self.model, b),
+            'model': lambda b: util.model_from_bytes(self.model, b),
             'vocab': lambda b: self.vocab.from_bytes(b)
         }
         util.from_bytes(deserialize, exclude)
         return self
 
+    def to_disk(self, path, **exclude):
+        serialize = {
+            'model': lambda p: p.open('w').write(util.model_to_bytes(self.model)),
+            'vocab': lambda p: self.vocab.to_disk(p)
+        }
+        util.to_disk(path, serialize, exclude)
+
+    def from_disk(self, path, **exclude):
+        deserialize = {
+            'model': lambda p: util.model_from_bytes(self.model, p.open('rb').read()),
+            'vocab': lambda p: self.vocab.from_disk(p)
+        }
+        util.from_disk(path, deserialize, exclude)
+        return self
 
 
 class NeuralLabeller(NeuralTagger):
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/nn_parser.pyx b/spacy/syntax/nn_parser.pyx
index 99410a2c8..9daa7a284 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/nn_parser.pyx
+++ b/spacy/syntax/nn_parser.pyx
@@ -631,37 +631,53 @@ cdef class Parser:
             with self.model[1].use_params(params):
                 yield
 
-    def to_disk(self, path):
-        path = util.ensure_path(path)
-        with (path / 'model.bin').open('wb') as file_:
-            dill.dump(self.model, file_)
+    def to_disk(self, path, **exclude):
+        serializers = {
+            'model': lambda p: p.open('wb').write(
+                util.model_to_bytes(self.model)),
+            'vocab': lambda p: self.vocab.to_disk(p),
+            'moves': lambda p: self.moves.to_disk(p, strings=False),
+            'cfg': lambda p: ujson.dumps(p.open('w'), self.cfg)
+        }
+        util.to_disk(path, serializers, exclude)
 
-    def from_disk(self, path):
-        path = util.ensure_path(path)
-        with (path / 'model.bin').open('wb') as file_:
-            self.model = dill.load(file_)
+    def from_disk(self, path, **exclude):
+        deserializers = {
+            'vocab': lambda p: self.vocab.from_disk(p),
+            'moves': lambda p: self.moves.from_disk(p, strings=False),
+            'cfg': lambda p: self.cfg.update(ujson.load((path/'cfg.json').open())),
+            'model': lambda p: None
+        }
+        util.from_disk(path, deserializers, exclude)
+        if 'model' not in exclude:
+            path = util.ensure_path(path)
+            if self.model is True:
+                self.model = self.Model(**self.cfg)
+            util.model_from_disk(self.model, path / 'model')
+        return self
 
     def to_bytes(self, **exclude):
-        serialize = {
+        serializers = {
             'model': lambda: util.model_to_bytes(self.model),
             'vocab': lambda: self.vocab.to_bytes(),
-            'moves': lambda: self.moves.to_bytes(),
+            'moves': lambda: self.moves.to_bytes(vocab=False),
             'cfg': lambda: ujson.dumps(self.cfg)
         }
-        return util.to_bytes(serialize, exclude)
+        return util.to_bytes(serializers, exclude)
 
     def from_bytes(self, bytes_data, **exclude):
-        deserialize = {
+        deserializers = {
             'vocab': lambda b: self.vocab.from_bytes(b),
             'moves': lambda b: self.moves.from_bytes(b),
             'cfg': lambda b: self.cfg.update(ujson.loads(b)),
             'model': lambda b: None
         }
-        msg = util.from_bytes(deserialize, exclude)
+        msg = util.from_bytes(bytes_data, deserializers, exclude)
         if 'model' not in exclude:
             if self.model is True:
-                self.model = self.Model(**msg['cfg'])
-            util.model_from_disk(self.model, msg['model'])
+                print(msg['cfg'])
+                self.model = self.Model(self.moves.n_moves)
+            util.model_from_bytes(self.model, msg['model'])
         return self
 
 
diff --git a/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pyx b/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pyx
index a5506e537..42ec7318b 100644
--- a/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pyx
+++ b/spacy/syntax/transition_system.pyx
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ from cpython.ref cimport PyObject, Py_INCREF, Py_XDECREF
 from cymem.cymem cimport Pool
 from thinc.typedefs cimport weight_t
 from collections import defaultdict, OrderedDict
+import ujson
 
+from .. import util
 from ..structs cimport TokenC
 from .stateclass cimport StateClass
 from ..attrs cimport TAG, HEAD, DEP, ENT_TYPE, ENT_IOB
@@ -153,3 +155,48 @@ cdef class TransitionSystem:
         assert self.c[self.n_moves].label == label_id
         self.n_moves += 1
         return 1
+
+    def to_disk(self, path, **exclude):
+        actions = list(self.move_names)
+        deserializers = {
+            'actions': lambda p: ujson.dump(p.open('w'), actions),
+            'strings': lambda p: self.strings.to_disk(p)
+        }
+        util.to_disk(path, deserializers, exclude)
+
+    def from_disk(self, path, **exclude):
+        actions = []
+        deserializers = {
+            'strings': lambda p: self.strings.from_disk(p),
+            'actions': lambda p: actions.extend(ujson.load(p.open()))
+        }
+        util.from_disk(path, deserializers, exclude)
+        for move, label in actions:
+            self.add_action(move, label)
+        return self
+
+    def to_bytes(self, **exclude):
+        transitions = []
+        for trans in self.c[:self.n_moves]:
+            transitions.append({
+                'clas': trans.clas,
+                'move': trans.move,
+                'label': self.strings[trans.label],
+                'name': self.move_name(trans.move, trans.label)
+            })
+        serializers = {
+            'transitions': lambda: ujson.dumps(transitions),
+            'strings': lambda: self.strings.to_bytes()
+        }
+        return util.to_bytes(serializers, exclude)
+
+    def from_bytes(self, bytes_data, **exclude):
+        transitions = []
+        deserializers = {
+            'transitions': lambda b: transitions.extend(ujson.loads(b)),
+            'strings': lambda b: self.strings.from_bytes(b)
+        }
+        msg = util.from_bytes(bytes_data, deserializers, exclude)
+        for trans in transitions:
+            self.add_action(trans['move'], trans['label'])
+        return self
diff --git a/spacy/tests/parser/test_to_from_bytes_disk.py b/spacy/tests/parser/test_to_from_bytes_disk.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..be536d679
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spacy/tests/parser/test_to_from_bytes_disk.py
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import pytest
+
+from ...pipeline import NeuralDependencyParser
+from ...vocab import Vocab
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def vocab():
+    return Vocab()
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def parser(vocab):
+    parser = NeuralDependencyParser(vocab)
+    parser.add_label('nsubj')
+    parser.model, cfg = parser.Model(parser.moves.n_moves)
+    parser.cfg.update(cfg)
+    return parser
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def blank_parser(vocab):
+    parser = NeuralDependencyParser(vocab)
+    return parser
+
+
+def test_to_from_bytes(parser, blank_parser):
+    assert parser.model is not True
+    assert blank_parser.model is True
+    assert blank_parser.moves.n_moves != parser.moves.n_moves
+    bytes_data = parser.to_bytes()
+    blank_parser.from_bytes(bytes_data)
+    assert blank_parser.model is not True
+    assert blank_parser.moves.n_moves == parser.moves.n_moves
diff --git a/spacy/util.py b/spacy/util.py
index 72dede705..d93e6f1c5 100644
--- a/spacy/util.py
+++ b/spacy/util.py
@@ -417,11 +417,11 @@ def to_bytes(getters, exclude):
     for key, getter in getters.items():
         if key not in exclude:
             serialized[key] = getter()
-    return messagepack.dumps(serialized)
+    return msgpack.dumps(serialized)
 
 
 def from_bytes(bytes_data, setters, exclude):
-    msg = messagepack.loads(bytes_data)
+    msg = msgpack.loads(bytes_data)
     for key, setter in setters.items():
         if key not in exclude:
             setter(msg[key])