diff --git a/src/hanoi_merger.erl b/src/hanoi_merger.erl
index adeb593..2391e0e 100644
--- a/src/hanoi_merger.erl
+++ b/src/hanoi_merger.erl
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@ hibernate_scan(Keep) ->
     receive
         {step, From, HowMany} ->
             error_logger:info_msg("waking up ~p~n", [self()]),
-            {BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count} = erlang:binary_to_term( zlib:gunzip( Keep ) ),
-            scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count, {HowMany, From})
+            {BT1, BT2, OutBin, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count} = erlang:binary_to_term( zlib:gunzip( Keep ) ),
+            scan(BT1, BT2, hanoi_writer:deserialize(OutBin), IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count, {HowMany, From})
     end.
 
 scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count, {0, FromPID}) ->
@@ -91,9 +91,14 @@ scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count, {0, FromPID}) ->
         {step, From, HowMany} ->
             scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count, {HowMany, From})
     after 10000 ->
-            Args = {BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count},
-            Keep = zlib:gzip ( erlang:term_to_binary( Args ) ),
-            hibernate_scan(Keep)
+            case ?LOCAL_WRITER of
+                true ->
+                    Args = {BT1, BT2, hanoi_writer:serialize(Out), IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count},
+                    Keep = zlib:gzip ( erlang:term_to_binary( Args ) ),
+                    hibernate_scan(Keep);
+                false ->
+                    scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, AKVs, BKVs, Count, {0, none})
+            end
     end;
 
 scan(BT1, BT2, Out, IsLastLevel, [], BKVs, Count, Step) ->
diff --git a/src/hanoi_writer.erl b/src/hanoi_writer.erl
index 1584c21..32fa4f6 100644
--- a/src/hanoi_writer.erl
+++ b/src/hanoi_writer.erl
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
 
 %% gen_server callbacks
 -export([init/1, handle_call/3, handle_cast/2, handle_info/2,
-         terminate/2, code_change/3]).
+         terminate/2, code_change/3, serialize/1, deserialize/1]).
 
 -export([open/1, open/2, add/3,close/1]).
 
@@ -126,6 +126,15 @@ code_change(_OldVsn, State, _Extra) ->
 
 %%%%% INTERNAL FUNCTIONS
 
+serialize(#state{ bloom=Bloom }=State) ->
+    erlang:term_to_binary( { State, ebloom:serialize(Bloom) } ).
+
+deserialize(Binary) ->
+    { State, BinBloom } = erlang:binary_to_term( Binary ),
+    {ok, Bloom } = ebloom:deserialize(BinBloom),
+    State#state{ bloom = Bloom }.
+
+
 % @doc flush pending nodes and write trailer
 
 flush_nodes(#state{ nodes=[], last_node_pos=LastNodePos, last_node_size=_LastNodeSize, bloom=Ref }=State) ->