diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index d463a2a4ba..386b3deb39 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -4882,6 +4882,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "memmap2 0.5.3",
  "rustc_version 0.4.0",
  "serde",
+ "serde_bytes",
  "serde_derive",
  "sha2 0.10.2",
  "solana-frozen-abi-macro 1.10.4",
diff --git a/frozen-abi/Cargo.toml b/frozen-abi/Cargo.toml
index f165be5615..6959480653 100644
--- a/frozen-abi/Cargo.toml
+++ b/frozen-abi/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ lazy_static = "1.4.0"
 log = "0.4.14"
 serde = "1.0.136"
 serde_derive = "1.0.103"
+serde_bytes = "0.11"
 sha2 = "0.10.2"
 solana-frozen-abi-macro = { path = "macro", version = "=1.10.4" }
 thiserror = "1.0"
diff --git a/frozen-abi/src/abi_digester.rs b/frozen-abi/src/abi_digester.rs
index 5a041321f4..66047f2feb 100644
--- a/frozen-abi/src/abi_digester.rs
+++ b/frozen-abi/src/abi_digester.rs
@@ -562,6 +562,17 @@ mod tests {
     #[derive(Serialize, AbiExample)]
     struct TestNewtypeStruct(i8);
 
+    #[frozen_abi(digest = "Hbs1X2X7TF2gFEfsspwfZ1JKr8ZGbLY3uidQBebqcMYt")]
+    #[derive(Serialize, AbiExample)]
+    struct Foo<'a> {
+        #[serde(with = "serde_bytes")]
+        data1: Vec<u8>,
+        #[serde(with = "serde_bytes")]
+        data2: &'a [u8],
+        #[serde(with = "serde_bytes")]
+        data3: &'a Vec<u8>,
+    }
+
     #[frozen_abi(digest = "5qio5qYurHDv6fq5kcwP2ue2RBEazSZF8CPk2kUuwC2j")]
     #[derive(Serialize, AbiExample)]
     struct TestStructReversed {
diff --git a/frozen-abi/src/abi_example.rs b/frozen-abi/src/abi_example.rs
index ae8b48ddd6..43d721535c 100644
--- a/frozen-abi/src/abi_example.rs
+++ b/frozen-abi/src/abi_example.rs
@@ -415,6 +415,13 @@ impl AbiExample for &Vec<u8> {
     }
 }
 
+impl AbiExample for &[u8] {
+    fn example() -> Self {
+        info!("AbiExample for (&[u8]): {}", type_name::<Self>());
+        &VEC_U8[..]
+    }
+}
+
 impl<T: AbiExample> AbiExample for VecDeque<T> {
     fn example() -> Self {
         info!("AbiExample for (Vec<T>): {}", type_name::<Self>());
diff --git a/programs/bpf/Cargo.lock b/programs/bpf/Cargo.lock
index ff8f4fd544..a16d050501 100644
--- a/programs/bpf/Cargo.lock
+++ b/programs/bpf/Cargo.lock
@@ -3370,6 +3370,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "memmap2 0.5.3",
  "rustc_version 0.4.0",
  "serde",
+ "serde_bytes",
  "serde_derive",
  "sha2 0.10.2",
  "solana-frozen-abi-macro 1.10.4",
diff --git a/sdk/src/account.rs b/sdk/src/account.rs
index 65c03814bd..a480cfa0a6 100644
--- a/sdk/src/account.rs
+++ b/sdk/src/account.rs
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ mod account_serialize {
     struct Account<'a> {
         lamports: u64,
         #[serde(with = "serde_bytes")]
-        // a ref so we don't have to make a copy just to serialize this
-        data: &'a Vec<u8>,
+        // a slice so we don't have to make a copy just to serialize this
+        data: &'a [u8],
         // can't be &pubkey because abi example doesn't support it
         owner: Pubkey,
         executable: bool,
@@ -57,7 +57,6 @@ mod account_serialize {
     /// allows us to implement serialize on AccountSharedData that is equivalent to Account::serialize without making a copy of the Vec<u8>
     pub fn serialize_account<S>(
         account: &(impl ReadableAccount + Serialize),
-        data: &Vec<u8>,
         serializer: S,
     ) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
     where
@@ -65,8 +64,7 @@ mod account_serialize {
     {
         let temp = Account {
             lamports: account.lamports(),
-            // note this is a ref, which is the whole point of 'account_serialize'
-            data,
+            data: account.data(),
             owner: *account.owner(),
             executable: account.executable(),
             rent_epoch: account.rent_epoch(),
@@ -80,7 +78,7 @@ impl Serialize for Account {
     where
         S: Serializer,
     {
-        crate::account::account_serialize::serialize_account(self, &self.data, serializer)
+        crate::account::account_serialize::serialize_account(self, serializer)
     }
 }
 
@@ -89,7 +87,7 @@ impl Serialize for AccountSharedData {
     where
         S: Serializer,
     {
-        crate::account::account_serialize::serialize_account(self, &self.data, serializer)
+        crate::account::account_serialize::serialize_account(self, serializer)
     }
 }