diff --git a/msp/identities.go b/msp/identities.go
index 05af72630a3..2045697ac27 100644
--- a/msp/identities.go
+++ b/msp/identities.go
@@ -23,10 +23,9 @@ import (
 
 	"encoding/pem"
 
-	"encoding/asn1"
-
 	"errors"
 
+	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/core/crypto/bccsp"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/core/crypto/bccsp/signer"
 )
@@ -115,8 +114,8 @@ func (id *identity) Serialize() ([]byte, error) {
 	}
 
 	// We serialize identities by prepending the MSPID and appending the ASN.1 DER content of the cert
-	sId := SerializedIdentity{Mspid: id.id.Mspid, IdBytes: pemBytes}
-	idBytes, err := asn1.Marshal(sId)
+	sId := &SerializedIdentity{Mspid: id.id.Mspid, IdBytes: pemBytes}
+	idBytes, err := proto.Marshal(sId)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Could not marshal a SerializedIdentity structure for identity %s, err %s", id.id, err)
 	}
diff --git a/msp/identities.pb.go b/msp/identities.pb.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..06f0e8d23fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/msp/identities.pb.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+// Code generated by protoc-gen-go.
+// source: identities.proto
+// DO NOT EDIT!
+
+/*
+Package msp is a generated protocol buffer package.
+
+It is generated from these files:
+    identities.proto
+
+It has these top-level messages:
+    SerializedIdentity
+*/
+package msp
+
+import proto "github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
+import fmt "fmt"
+import math "math"
+
+// Reference imports to suppress errors if they are not otherwise used.
+var _ = proto.Marshal
+var _ = fmt.Errorf
+var _ = math.Inf
+
+// This is a compile-time assertion to ensure that this generated file
+// is compatible with the proto package it is being compiled against.
+// A compilation error at this line likely means your copy of the
+// proto package needs to be updated.
+const _ = proto.ProtoPackageIsVersion2 // please upgrade the proto package
+
+// This struct represents an Identity
+// (with its MSP identifier) to be used
+// to serialize it and deserialize it
+type SerializedIdentity struct {
+	// The identifier of the associated membership service provider
+	Mspid string `protobuf:"bytes,1,opt,name=Mspid" json:"Mspid,omitempty"`
+	// the Identity, serialized according to the rules of its MPS
+	IdBytes []byte `protobuf:"bytes,2,opt,name=IdBytes,proto3" json:"IdBytes,omitempty"`
+}
+
+func (m *SerializedIdentity) Reset()                    { *m = SerializedIdentity{} }
+func (m *SerializedIdentity) String() string            { return proto.CompactTextString(m) }
+func (*SerializedIdentity) ProtoMessage()               {}
+func (*SerializedIdentity) Descriptor() ([]byte, []int) { return fileDescriptor0, []int{0} }
+
+func init() {
+	proto.RegisterType((*SerializedIdentity)(nil), "msp.SerializedIdentity")
+}
+
+func init() { proto.RegisterFile("identities.proto", fileDescriptor0) }
+
+var fileDescriptor0 = []byte{
+	// 143 bytes of a gzipped FileDescriptorProto
+	0x1f, 0x8b, 0x08, 0x00, 0x00, 0x09, 0x6e, 0x88, 0x02, 0xff, 0xe2, 0x12, 0xc8, 0x4c, 0x49, 0xcd,
+	0x2b, 0xc9, 0x2c, 0xc9, 0x4c, 0x2d, 0xd6, 0x2b, 0x28, 0xca, 0x2f, 0xc9, 0x17, 0x62, 0xce, 0x2d,
+	0x2e, 0x50, 0x72, 0xe1, 0x12, 0x0a, 0x4e, 0x2d, 0xca, 0x4c, 0xcc, 0xc9, 0xac, 0x4a, 0x4d, 0xf1,
+	0x84, 0x28, 0xa9, 0x14, 0x12, 0xe1, 0x62, 0xf5, 0x2d, 0x2e, 0xc8, 0x4c, 0x91, 0x60, 0x54, 0x60,
+	0xd4, 0xe0, 0x0c, 0x82, 0x70, 0x84, 0x24, 0xb8, 0xd8, 0x3d, 0x53, 0x9c, 0x2a, 0x4b, 0x52, 0x8b,
+	0x25, 0x98, 0x80, 0xe2, 0x3c, 0x41, 0x30, 0xae, 0x93, 0x72, 0x94, 0x62, 0x7a, 0x66, 0x49, 0x46,
+	0x69, 0x92, 0x5e, 0x72, 0x7e, 0xae, 0x7e, 0x46, 0x65, 0x41, 0x6a, 0x51, 0x4e, 0x6a, 0x4a, 0x7a,
+	0x6a, 0x91, 0x7e, 0x5a, 0x62, 0x52, 0x51, 0x66, 0xb2, 0x3e, 0xd0, 0xaa, 0x24, 0x36, 0xb0, 0xb5,
+	0xc6, 0x80, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0xff, 0xff, 0xdc, 0x7a, 0xe7, 0x45, 0x8a, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00,
+}
diff --git a/msp/identities.proto b/msp/identities.proto
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..dd37c474ded
--- /dev/null
+++ b/msp/identities.proto
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/*
+Copyright IBM Corp. 2016 All Rights Reserved.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+                 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+syntax = "proto3";
+
+option go_package = "github.com/hyperledger/fabric/msp";
+
+package msp;
+
+// This struct represents an Identity
+// (with its MSP identifier) to be used
+// to serialize it and deserialize it
+message SerializedIdentity {
+	// The identifier of the associated membership service provider
+    string Mspid = 1;
+
+    // the Identity, serialized according to the rules of its MPS
+    bytes IdBytes = 2;
+}
diff --git a/msp/msp.go b/msp/msp.go
index 450d7cee923..b7e623210da 100644
--- a/msp/msp.go
+++ b/msp/msp.go
@@ -223,14 +223,3 @@ const (
 	FABRIC ProviderType = iota // MSP is of FABRIC type
 	OTHER                      // MSP is of OTHER TYPE
 )
-
-// This struct represents an Identity
-// (with its MSP identifier) to be used
-// to serialize it and deserialize it
-type SerializedIdentity struct {
-	// The identifier of the associated membership service provider
-	Mspid string
-
-	// the Identity, serialized according to the rules of its MPS
-	IdBytes []byte
-}
diff --git a/msp/mspimpl.go b/msp/mspimpl.go
index 4b8c4fd6a15..598b7c0e167 100644
--- a/msp/mspimpl.go
+++ b/msp/mspimpl.go
@@ -25,8 +25,7 @@ import (
 
 	"encoding/json"
 
-	"encoding/asn1"
-
+	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/core/crypto/bccsp"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/core/crypto/bccsp/signer"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/core/crypto/bccsp/sw"
@@ -263,7 +262,7 @@ func (msp *bccspmsp) DeserializeIdentity(serializedID []byte) (Identity, error)
 
 	// We first deserialize to a SerializedIdentity to get the MSP ID
 	sId := &SerializedIdentity{}
-	_, err := asn1.Unmarshal(serializedID, sId)
+	err := proto.Unmarshal(serializedID, sId)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Could not deserialize a SerializedIdentity, err %s", err)
 	}
diff --git a/msp/mspmgrimpl.go b/msp/mspmgrimpl.go
index 6693a1ac8ab..2bf3e690467 100644
--- a/msp/mspmgrimpl.go
+++ b/msp/mspmgrimpl.go
@@ -19,8 +19,7 @@ package msp
 import (
 	"fmt"
 
-	"encoding/asn1"
-
+	"github.com/golang/protobuf/proto"
 	"github.com/hyperledger/fabric/protos/msp"
 	"github.com/op/go-logging"
 )
@@ -106,7 +105,7 @@ func (mgr *mspManagerImpl) GetMSPs() (map[string]MSP, error) {
 func (mgr *mspManagerImpl) DeserializeIdentity(serializedID []byte) (Identity, error) {
 	// We first deserialize to a SerializedIdentity to get the MSP ID
 	sId := &SerializedIdentity{}
-	_, err := asn1.Unmarshal(serializedID, sId)
+	err := proto.Unmarshal(serializedID, sId)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Could not deserialize a SerializedIdentity, err %s", err)
 	}