diff --git a/eli5/base.py b/eli5/base.py
index f71e9e75..921ef59f 100644
--- a/eli5/base.py
+++ b/eli5/base.py
@@ -2,57 +2,78 @@
 
 from typing import Dict, List, Tuple, Union
 
-import attr
+from .base_utils import attrs
 
 
-@attr.s
+@attrs
 class Explanation(object):
     """ An explanation for classifier or regressor,
     it can either explain weights or a single prediction.
     """
-    # Explanation meta-information
-    estimator = attr.ib()  # type: str
-    description = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: str
-    error = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: str
-    method = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: str
-    is_regression = attr.ib(default=False)  # type: bool
-    # Actual explanations
-    targets = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: List[TargetExplanation]
-    feature_importances = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: FeatureWeights
-    decision_tree = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: TreeInfo
+    def __init__(self,
+                 estimator,  # type: str
+                 description=None,  # type: str
+                 error=None,  # type: str
+                 method=None,  # type: str
+                 is_regression=False,  # type: bool
+                 targets=None,  # type: List[TargetExplanation]
+                 feature_importances=None,  # type: FeatureWeights
+                 decision_tree=None,  # type: TreeInfo
+                 ):
+        self.estimator = estimator
+        self.description = description
+        self.error = error
+        self.method = method
+        self.is_regression = is_regression
+        self.targets = targets
+        self.feature_importances = feature_importances
+        self.decision_tree = decision_tree
 
     def _repr_html_(self):
         from eli5.formatters import format_as_html, fields
         return format_as_html(self, force_weights=False, show=fields.WEIGHTS)
 
 
-@attr.s
+@attrs
 class TargetExplanation(object):
     """ Explanation for a single target or class.
     Feature weights are stored in the :feature_weights: attribute,
     and features highlighted in text in the :weighted_spans: attribute.
     """
-    target = attr.ib()  # type: str
-    feature_weights = attr.ib()  # type: FeatureWeights
-    proba = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: float
-    score = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: float
-    weighted_spans = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: WeightedSpans
+    def __init__(self,
+                 target,  # type: str
+                 feature_weights,  # type: FeatureWeights
+                 proba=None,  # type: float
+                 score=None,  # type: float
+                 weighted_spans=None,  # type: WeightedSpans
+                 ):
+        self.target = target
+        self.feature_weights = feature_weights
+        self.proba = proba
+        self.score = score
+        self.weighted_spans = weighted_spans
 
 
 Feature = Union[str, Dict]  # Dict is currently used for unhashed features
 
 
-@attr.s
+@attrs
 class FeatureWeights(object):
     """ Weights for top features, :pos: for positive and :neg: for negative,
     sorted by descending absolute value.
     Number of remaining positive and negative features are stored in
     :pos_remaining: and :neg_remaining: attributes.
     """
-    pos = attr.ib()  # type: List[Tuple[Feature, float]]
-    neg = attr.ib()  # type: List[Tuple[Feature, float]]
-    pos_remaining = attr.ib(default=0)  # type: int
-    neg_remaining = attr.ib(default=0)  # type: int
+    def __init__(self,
+                 pos,  # type: List[Tuple[Feature, float]]
+                 neg,  # type: List[Tuple[Feature, float]]
+                 pos_remaining=0,  # type: int
+                 neg_remaining=0,  # type: int
+                 ):
+        self.pos = pos
+        self.neg = neg
+        self.pos_remaining = pos_remaining
+        self.neg_remaining = neg_remaining
 
 
 WeightedSpan = Tuple[
@@ -62,7 +83,7 @@ class FeatureWeights(object):
 ]
 
 
-@attr.s
+@attrs
 class WeightedSpans(object):
     """ Features highlighted in text. :analyzer: is a type of the analyzer
     (for example "char" or "word"), and :document: is a pre-processed document
@@ -70,38 +91,62 @@ class WeightedSpans(object):
     (see above) for features found in text (span indices correspond to
     :document:), and :other: holds weights for features not highlighted in text.
     """
-    analyzer = attr.ib()  # type: str
-    document = attr.ib()  # type: str
-    weighted_spans = attr.ib()  # type: List[WeightedSpan]
-    other = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: FeatureWeights
-
-
-@attr.s
+    def __init__(self,
+                 analyzer,  # type: str
+                 document,  # type: str
+                 weighted_spans,  # type: List[WeightedSpan]
+                 other=None,  # type: FeatureWeights
+                 ):
+        self.analyzer = analyzer
+        self.document = document
+        self.weighted_spans = weighted_spans
+        self.other = other
+
+
+@attrs
 class TreeInfo(object):
     """ Information about the decision tree. :criterion: is the name of
     the function to measure the quality of a split, :tree: holds all nodes
     of the tree, and :graphviz: is the tree rendered in graphviz .dot format.
     """
-    criterion = attr.ib()  # type: str
-    tree = attr.ib()  # type: NodeInfo
-    graphviz = attr.ib()  # type: str
+    def __init__(self,
+                 criterion,  # type: str
+                 tree,  # type: NodeInfo
+                 graphviz,  # type: str
+                 ):
+        self.criterion = criterion
+        self.tree = tree
+        self.graphviz = graphviz
 
 
-@attr.s
+@attrs
 class NodeInfo(object):
     """ A node in a binary tree.
     Pointers to left and right children are in :left: and :right: attributes.
     """
-    id = attr.ib()
-    is_leaf = attr.ib()  # type: bool
-    value = attr.ib()
-    value_ratio = attr.ib()
-    impurity = attr.ib()
-    samples = attr.ib()
-    sample_ratio = attr.ib()
-    feature_name = attr.ib(default=None)
-    # for non-leafs
-    feature_id = attr.ib(default=None)
-    threshold = attr.ib(default=None)
-    left = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: NodeInfo
-    right = attr.ib(default=None)  # type: NodeInfo
+    def __init__(self,
+                 id,
+                 is_leaf,  # type: bool
+                 value,
+                 value_ratio,
+                 impurity,
+                 samples,
+                 sample_ratio,
+                 feature_name=None,
+                 feature_id=None,
+                 threshold=None,
+                 left=None,  # type: NodeInfo
+                 right=None,  # type: NodeInfo
+                 ):
+        self.id = id
+        self.is_leaf = is_leaf
+        self.value = value
+        self.value_ratio = value_ratio
+        self.impurity = impurity
+        self.samples = samples
+        self.sample_ratio = sample_ratio
+        self.feature_name = feature_name
+        self.feature_id = feature_id
+        self.threshold = threshold
+        self.left = left
+        self.right = right
diff --git a/eli5/base_utils.py b/eli5/base_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d7263efa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/eli5/base_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import inspect
+
+import attr
+
+
+def attrs(class_):
+    """ Like attr.s, but with attributes extracted from __init__ method signature.
+    It is useful if we still want __init__ for proper type-checking and
+    do not want to repeat attribute definitions in the class body.
+    """
+    attrs_kwargs = {}
+    for method in ['repr', 'cmp', 'hash']:
+        if '__{}__'.format(method) in class_.__dict__:
+            # Allow to redefine a special method (or else attr.s will do it)
+            attrs_kwargs[method] = False
+    init_args = inspect.getargspec(class_.__init__)
+    defaults_shift = len(init_args.args) - len(init_args.defaults or []) - 1
+    these = {}
+    for idx, arg in enumerate(init_args.args[1:]):
+        attrib_kwargs = {}
+        if idx >= defaults_shift:
+            attrib_kwargs['default'] = init_args.defaults[idx - defaults_shift]
+        these[arg] = attr.ib(**attrib_kwargs)
+    return attr.s(class_, these=these, init=False, **attrs_kwargs)
diff --git a/tests/test_base_utils.py b/tests/test_base_utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b7d80c92
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_base_utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import attr
+
+from eli5.base_utils import attrs
+
+
+def test_attrs_with_default():
+
+    @attrs
+    class WithDefault(object):
+        def __init__(self, x, y=1):
+            self.x = x
+            self.y = y
+
+    x_attr, y_attr = attr.fields(WithDefault)
+    assert x_attr.name == 'x'
+    assert y_attr.name == 'y'
+    assert x_attr.default is attr.NOTHING
+    assert y_attr.default == 1
+
+    assert WithDefault(1) == WithDefault(1)
+    assert WithDefault(1, 1) != WithDefault(1, 2)
+
+
+def test_attrs_without_default():
+
+    @attrs
+    class WithoutDefault(object):
+        def __init__(self, x):
+            self.x = x
+
+    x_attr, = attr.fields(WithoutDefault)
+    assert x_attr.name == 'x'
+    assert x_attr.default is attr.NOTHING
+
+    assert WithoutDefault(1) == WithoutDefault(1)
+    assert WithoutDefault(1) != WithoutDefault(2)
+
+
+def test_attrs_with_repr():
+
+    @attrs
+    class WithRepr(object):
+        def __init__(self, x):
+            self.x = x
+
+        def __repr__(self):
+            return 'foo'
+
+    assert hash(WithRepr(1)) == hash(WithRepr(1))
+    assert repr(WithRepr(2)) == 'foo'