diff --git a/migrations/2018-01-18-172821_use_jsonb_for_features/down.sql b/migrations/2018-01-18-172821_use_jsonb_for_features/down.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..75c881634ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/2018-01-18-172821_use_jsonb_for_features/down.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+ALTER TABLE versions ALTER COLUMN features DROP NOT NULL;
+ALTER TABLE versions ALTER COLUMN features DROP DEFAULT;
+ALTER TABLE versions ALTER COLUMN features SET DATA TYPE text;
diff --git a/migrations/2018-01-18-172821_use_jsonb_for_features/up.sql b/migrations/2018-01-18-172821_use_jsonb_for_features/up.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..16b1c27af0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/migrations/2018-01-18-172821_use_jsonb_for_features/up.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+ALTER TABLE versions ALTER COLUMN features SET DATA TYPE jsonb USING features::jsonb;
+ALTER TABLE versions ALTER COLUMN features SET DEFAULT '{}';
+ALTER TABLE versions ALTER COLUMN features SET NOT NULL;
diff --git a/src/models/version.rs b/src/models/version.rs
index d97440271fd..8bf7313e4f5 100644
--- a/src/models/version.rs
+++ b/src/models/version.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ pub struct Version {
     pub updated_at: NaiveDateTime,
     pub created_at: NaiveDateTime,
     pub downloads: i32,
-    pub features: HashMap<String, Vec<String>>,
+    pub features: serde_json::Value,
     pub yanked: bool,
     pub license: Option<String>,
 }
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ pub struct Version {
 pub struct NewVersion {
     crate_id: i32,
     num: String,
-    features: String,
+    features: serde_json::Value,
     license: Option<String>,
 }
 
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ impl NewVersion {
         license: Option<String>,
         license_file: Option<&str>,
     ) -> CargoResult<Self> {
-        let features = serde_json::to_string(features)?;
+        let features = serde_json::to_value(features)?;
 
         let mut new_version = NewVersion {
             crate_id,
@@ -197,15 +197,12 @@ impl Queryable<versions::SqlType, Pg> for Version {
         NaiveDateTime,
         NaiveDateTime,
         i32,
-        Option<String>,
+        serde_json::Value,
         bool,
         Option<String>,
     );
 
     fn build(row: Self::Row) -> Self {
-        let features = row.6
-            .map(|s| serde_json::from_str(&s).unwrap())
-            .unwrap_or_else(HashMap::new);
         Version {
             id: row.0,
             crate_id: row.1,
@@ -213,7 +210,7 @@ impl Queryable<versions::SqlType, Pg> for Version {
             updated_at: row.3,
             created_at: row.4,
             downloads: row.5,
-            features,
+            features: row.6,
             yanked: row.7,
             license: row.8,
         }
diff --git a/src/schema.rs b/src/schema.rs
index 89da3e45425..d62d73ee600 100644
--- a/src/schema.rs
+++ b/src/schema.rs
@@ -848,10 +848,10 @@ table! {
         downloads -> Int4,
         /// The `features` column of the `versions` table.
         ///
-        /// Its SQL type is `Nullable<Varchar>`.
+        /// Its SQL type is `Jsonb`.
         ///
         /// (Automatically generated by Diesel.)
-        features -> Nullable<Varchar>,
+        features -> Jsonb,
         /// The `yanked` column of the `versions` table.
         ///
         /// Its SQL type is `Bool`.
diff --git a/src/views/mod.rs b/src/views/mod.rs
index 82f43e628cc..5fd157f2c96 100644
--- a/src/views/mod.rs
+++ b/src/views/mod.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use chrono::NaiveDateTime;
+use serde_json;
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 
 use models::DependencyKind;
@@ -187,7 +188,7 @@ pub struct EncodableVersion {
     pub created_at: NaiveDateTime,
     // NOTE: Used by shields.io, altering `downloads` requires a PR with shields.io
     pub downloads: i32,
-    pub features: HashMap<String, Vec<String>>,
+    pub features: serde_json::Value,
     pub yanked: bool,
     // NOTE: Used by shields.io, altering `license` requires a PR with shields.io
     pub license: Option<String>,
@@ -211,7 +212,6 @@ mod tests {
     use super::*;
     use chrono::NaiveDate;
     use serde_json;
-    use std::collections::HashMap;
 
     #[test]
     fn category_dates_serializes_to_rfc3339() {
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ mod tests {
             updated_at: NaiveDate::from_ymd(2017, 1, 6).and_hms(14, 23, 11),
             created_at: NaiveDate::from_ymd(2017, 1, 6).and_hms(14, 23, 12),
             downloads: 0,
-            features: HashMap::new(),
+            features: serde_json::from_str("{}").unwrap(),
             yanked: false,
             license: None,
             links: EncodableVersionLinks {