diff --git a/src/BSON.jl b/src/BSON.jl
index 9d7cbd0..6da655f 100644
--- a/src/BSON.jl
+++ b/src/BSON.jl
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ end
 
 function applychildren!(f::Function, x::BSONArray)::BSONArray
   for i = 1:length(x)
+    isassigned(x, i) || continue
     x[i] = f(x[i])
   end
   return x
diff --git a/src/extensions.jl b/src/extensions.jl
index 3875903..08a9516 100644
--- a/src/extensions.jl
+++ b/src/extensions.jl
@@ -67,18 +67,37 @@ lower(x::Vector{UInt8}) = x
 reinterpret_(::Type{T}, x) where T =
     T[_x for _x in reinterpret(T, x)]
 
-function lower(x::Array)
-  ndims(x) == 1 && !isbitstype(eltype(x)) && return Any[x...]
-  BSONDict(:tag => "array", :type => eltype(x), :size => Any[size(x)...],
-           :data => isbitstype(eltype(x)) ? reinterpret_(UInt8, reshape(x, :)) : Any[x...])
+
+function collect_any(xs)
+  ys = Vector{Any}(undef, length(xs))
+  for i = 1:length(xs)
+    isassigned(xs, i) && (ys[i] = xs[i])
+  end
+  return ys
+end
+
+
+function lower(x::Array{T,N}) where {T,N}
+  isone(N) && !isbitstype(T) && return collect_any(x)
+  BSONDict(:tag => "array", :type => T, :size => Any[size(x)...],
+           :data => isbitstype(T) ? reinterpret_(UInt8, reshape(x, :)) : collect_any(x))
 end
 
+
 tags[:array] = d ->
-  isbitstype(d[:type]) ?
-    sizeof(d[:type]) == 0 ?
-      fill(d[:type](), d[:size]...) :
-      reshape(reinterpret_(d[:type], d[:data]), map(normalize_typeparams, d[:size])...) :
-    Array{d[:type]}(reshape(d[:data], d[:size]...))
+if isbitstype(d[:type])
+    if sizeof(d[:type]) == 0
+      fill(d[:type](), d[:size]...)
+    else
+      reshape(reinterpret_(d[:type], d[:data]), d[:size]...)
+    end
+  else
+    a = Array{d[:type]}(undef, d[:size]...)
+    for i in 1:length(d[:data])
+      isassigned(d[:data], i) && (a[i] = d[:data][i])
+    end
+    a
+  end
 
 # Structs
 
diff --git a/src/read.jl b/src/read.jl
index bd3177c..3ec1583 100644
--- a/src/read.jl
+++ b/src/read.jl
@@ -32,15 +32,21 @@ end
 function parse_array(io::IO)::BSONArray
   len = read(io, Int32)
   ps = BSONArray()
-
+  len_set = false
   while (tag = read(io, BSONType)) ≠ eof
     # Note that arrays are dicts with the index as the key
-    while read(io, UInt8) != 0x00
-      nothing
-    end
-    push!(ps, parse_tag(io::IO, tag))
+    # The first index in dict is "length" => length(x)
+      index_or_length = parse_cstr(io)
+      val = parse_tag(io::IO, tag)
+      if index_or_length == "length"
+        resize!(ps, Int(val))
+        len_set = true
+      else
+        i = Base.parse(Int, index_or_length) + 1
+        len_set || resize!(ps, i)
+        ps[i] = val
+      end
   end
-
   ps
 end
 
diff --git a/src/write.jl b/src/write.jl
index 0f7e086..b90f80f 100644
--- a/src/write.jl
+++ b/src/write.jl
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ end
 
 bson_primitive(io::IO, doc::BSONDict) = bson_doc(io, doc)
 bson_primitive(io::IO, x::BSONArray) =
-  bson_doc(io, [Base.string(i-1) => v for (i, v) in enumerate(x)])
+  bson_doc(io, vcat(["length" => length(x)],[Base.string(i-1) => x[i] for i = 1:length(x) if isassigned(x, i)]))
 
 # Lowering
 
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index d5d6c41..2ef3247 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -2,6 +2,29 @@ using BSON
 using Test
 
 roundtrip_equal(x) = BSON.roundtrip(x) == x
+function roundtrip_equal(x::AbstractArray)
+  result = BSON.roundtrip(x)
+  all(eachindex(result, x)) do I
+    if !isassigned(x, I)
+      !isassigned(result, I)
+    else
+      x[I] == result[I]
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+function roundtrip_equal(x::Dict{String,Array{Real,2}})
+  result = BSON.roundtrip(x)
+  keys(result) == keys(x)
+  all(keys(x)) do key
+    if isassigned(x[key])
+      x[key] == result[key]
+    else
+      isassigned(x[key]) == isassigned(result[key])
+    end
+  end
+end
+
 
 mutable struct Foo
   x
@@ -33,6 +56,8 @@ end
   @test roundtrip_equal(Array)
   @test roundtrip_equal([1,2,3])
   @test roundtrip_equal(rand(2,3))
+  @test roundtrip_equal(Array{Real}(undef, 2,3))
+  @test roundtrip_equal(Array{String}(undef, 2,3))
   @test roundtrip_equal(Array{Real}(rand(2,3)))
   @test roundtrip_equal(1+2im)
   @test roundtrip_equal(Nothing[])
@@ -41,6 +66,7 @@ end
   @test roundtrip_equal(fill(S(), (1,3)))
   @test roundtrip_equal(Set([1,2,3]))
   @test roundtrip_equal(Dict("a"=>1))
+  @test roundtrip_equal(Dict("a"=>Array{Real}(undef, 2,3)))
   @test roundtrip_equal(T(()))
 end