diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9b730dd127..da132ece0d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,13 @@ and this project adheres to
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Changed
+
+- cosmwasm-std: Deprecate "compact" serialization of `Binary`, `HexBinary`,
+  `Checksum` ([#2128])
+
+[#2128]: https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm/pull/2128
+
 ## [2.0.2] - 2024-04-24
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/packages/std/src/binary.rs b/packages/std/src/binary.rs
index 8237980666..0de5d55b23 100644
--- a/packages/std/src/binary.rs
+++ b/packages/std/src/binary.rs
@@ -220,7 +220,11 @@ impl Serialize for Binary {
     where
         S: ser::Serializer,
     {
-        serializer.serialize_str(&self.to_base64())
+        if serializer.is_human_readable() {
+            serializer.serialize_str(&self.to_base64())
+        } else {
+            panic!("Binary is only intended to be used with JSON serialization for now. If you are hitting this panic please open an issue at https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm describing your use case.")
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -230,7 +234,11 @@ impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for Binary {
     where
         D: Deserializer<'de>,
     {
-        deserializer.deserialize_str(Base64Visitor)
+        if deserializer.is_human_readable() {
+            deserializer.deserialize_str(Base64Visitor)
+        } else {
+            panic!("Binary is only intended to be used with JSON serialization for now. If you are hitting this panic please open an issue at https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm describing your use case.")
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/std/src/checksum.rs b/packages/std/src/checksum.rs
index e56735640d..b2b1a79e9a 100644
--- a/packages/std/src/checksum.rs
+++ b/packages/std/src/checksum.rs
@@ -71,7 +71,11 @@ impl Serialize for Checksum {
     where
         S: ser::Serializer,
     {
-        serializer.serialize_str(&self.to_hex())
+        if serializer.is_human_readable() {
+            serializer.serialize_str(&self.to_hex())
+        } else {
+            panic!("Checksum is only intended to be used with JSON serialization for now. If you are hitting this panic please open an issue at https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm describing your use case.")
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -81,7 +85,11 @@ impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for Checksum {
     where
         D: Deserializer<'de>,
     {
-        deserializer.deserialize_str(ChecksumVisitor)
+        if deserializer.is_human_readable() {
+            deserializer.deserialize_str(ChecksumVisitor)
+        } else {
+            panic!("Checksum is only intended to be used with JSON serialization for now. If you are hitting this panic please open an issue at https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm describing your use case.")
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/std/src/hex_binary.rs b/packages/std/src/hex_binary.rs
index 1b704e2261..4c31260257 100644
--- a/packages/std/src/hex_binary.rs
+++ b/packages/std/src/hex_binary.rs
@@ -210,7 +210,11 @@ impl Serialize for HexBinary {
     where
         S: ser::Serializer,
     {
-        serializer.serialize_str(&self.to_hex())
+        if serializer.is_human_readable() {
+            serializer.serialize_str(&self.to_hex())
+        } else {
+            panic!("HexBinary is only intended to be used with JSON serialization for now. If you are hitting this panic please open an issue at https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm describing your use case.")
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -220,7 +224,11 @@ impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for HexBinary {
     where
         D: Deserializer<'de>,
     {
-        deserializer.deserialize_str(HexVisitor)
+        if deserializer.is_human_readable() {
+            deserializer.deserialize_str(HexVisitor)
+        } else {
+            panic!("HexBinary is only intended to be used with JSON serialization for now. If you are hitting this panic please open an issue at https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm describing your use case.")
+        }
     }
 }