diff --git a/pbjson-test/src/lib.rs b/pbjson-test/src/lib.rs
index f4a22a8..f1e8d57 100644
--- a/pbjson-test/src/lib.rs
+++ b/pbjson-test/src/lib.rs
@@ -63,7 +63,16 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     fn verify_decode(decoded: &KitchenSink, expected: &str) {
+        // Decode from a string first
         assert_eq!(decoded, &serde_json::from_str(expected).unwrap());
+
+        // Then, try decoding from a Reader: this can catch issues when trying to borrow data
+        // from the input, which is not possible when deserializing from a Reader (e.g. an opened
+        // file).
+        assert_eq!(
+            decoded,
+            &serde_json::from_reader(expected.as_bytes()).unwrap()
+        );
     }
 
     fn verify(decoded: &KitchenSink, expected: &str) {
diff --git a/pbjson-types/src/duration.rs b/pbjson-types/src/duration.rs
index d89d84f..bc2801d 100644
--- a/pbjson-types/src/duration.rs
+++ b/pbjson-types/src/duration.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use crate::Duration;
-use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use serde::de::Visitor;
+use serde::Serialize;
 
 impl TryFrom<Duration> for std::time::Duration {
     type Error = std::num::TryFromIntError;
@@ -55,12 +56,19 @@ impl Serialize for Duration {
     }
 }
 
-impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for Duration {
-    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+struct DurationVisitor;
+
+impl<'de> Visitor<'de> for DurationVisitor {
+    type Value = Duration;
+
+    fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        formatter.write_str("a duration string")
+    }
+
+    fn visit_str<E>(self, s: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
     where
-        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+        E: serde::de::Error,
     {
-        let s: &str = Deserialize::deserialize(deserializer)?;
         let s = s
             .strip_suffix('s')
             .ok_or_else(|| serde::de::Error::custom("missing 's' suffix"))?;
@@ -70,7 +78,7 @@ impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for Duration {
             None => (false, s),
         };
 
-        let duration: Self = match s.split_once('.') {
+        let duration = match s.split_once('.') {
             Some((seconds_str, decimal_str)) => {
                 let exp = 9_u32
                     .checked_sub(decimal_str.len() as u32)
@@ -80,19 +88,19 @@ impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for Duration {
                 let seconds = seconds_str.parse().map_err(serde::de::Error::custom)?;
                 let decimal: u32 = decimal_str.parse().map_err(serde::de::Error::custom)?;
 
-                Self {
+                Duration {
                     seconds,
                     nanos: (decimal * pow) as i32,
                 }
             }
-            None => Self {
+            None => Duration {
                 seconds: s.parse().map_err(serde::de::Error::custom)?,
                 nanos: 0,
             },
         };
 
         Ok(match negative {
-            true => Self {
+            true => Duration {
                 seconds: -duration.seconds,
                 nanos: -duration.nanos,
             },
@@ -101,6 +109,15 @@ impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for Duration {
     }
 }
 
+impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for Duration {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        deserializer.deserialize_str(DurationVisitor)
+    }
+}
+
 /// Splits nanoseconds into whole milliseconds, microseconds, and nanoseconds
 fn split_nanos(mut nanos: u32) -> (u32, u32, u32) {
     let millis = nanos / 1_000_000;
diff --git a/pbjson-types/src/timestamp.rs b/pbjson-types/src/timestamp.rs
index 7be523f..7f2d22f 100644
--- a/pbjson-types/src/timestamp.rs
+++ b/pbjson-types/src/timestamp.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 use crate::Timestamp;
 use chrono::{DateTime, NaiveDateTime, Utc};
-use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use serde::de::Visitor;
+use serde::Serialize;
 
 impl TryFrom<Timestamp> for chrono::DateTime<Utc> {
     type Error = std::num::TryFromIntError;
@@ -31,23 +32,40 @@ impl Serialize for Timestamp {
     }
 }
 
-impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for Timestamp {
-    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+struct TimestampVisitor;
+
+impl<'de> Visitor<'de> for TimestampVisitor {
+    type Value = Timestamp;
+
+    fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        formatter.write_str("a date string")
+    }
+
+    fn visit_str<E>(self, s: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
     where
-        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+        E: serde::de::Error,
     {
-        let s: &str = Deserialize::deserialize(deserializer)?;
         let d = DateTime::parse_from_rfc3339(s).map_err(serde::de::Error::custom)?;
         let d: DateTime<Utc> = d.into();
         Ok(d.into())
     }
 }
 
+impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for Timestamp {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        deserializer.deserialize_str(TimestampVisitor)
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
     use chrono::{FixedOffset, TimeZone};
     use serde::de::value::{BorrowedStrDeserializer, Error};
+    use serde::Deserialize;
 
     #[test]
     fn test_date() {
diff --git a/pbjson/src/lib.rs b/pbjson/src/lib.rs
index b2f7122..0e17df0 100644
--- a/pbjson/src/lib.rs
+++ b/pbjson/src/lib.rs
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@ pub mod private {
     /// Re-export base64
     pub use base64;
 
+    use serde::de::Visitor;
     use serde::Deserialize;
+    use std::borrow::Cow;
     use std::str::FromStr;
 
     /// Used to parse a number from either a string or its raw representation
@@ -32,7 +34,8 @@ pub mod private {
     #[derive(Deserialize)]
     #[serde(untagged)]
     enum Content<'a, T> {
-        Str(&'a str),
+        #[serde(borrow)]
+        Str(Cow<'a, str>),
         Number(T),
     }
 
@@ -53,19 +56,19 @@ pub mod private {
         }
     }
 
-    #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, PartialOrd, PartialEq, Hash, Ord, Eq)]
-    pub struct BytesDeserialize<T>(pub T);
+    struct Base64Visitor;
 
-    impl<'de, T> Deserialize<'de> for BytesDeserialize<T>
-    where
-        T: From<Vec<u8>>,
-    {
-        fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+    impl<'de> Visitor<'de> for Base64Visitor {
+        type Value = Vec<u8>;
+
+        fn expecting(&self, formatter: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+            formatter.write_str("a base64 string")
+        }
+
+        fn visit_str<E>(self, s: &str) -> Result<Self::Value, E>
         where
-            D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+            E: serde::de::Error,
         {
-            let s: &str = Deserialize::deserialize(deserializer)?;
-
             let decoded = base64::decode_config(s, base64::STANDARD)
                 .or_else(|e| match e {
                     // Either standard or URL-safe base64 encoding are accepted
@@ -80,8 +83,22 @@ pub mod private {
                     _ => Err(e),
                 })
                 .map_err(serde::de::Error::custom)?;
+            Ok(decoded)
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, PartialOrd, PartialEq, Hash, Ord, Eq)]
+    pub struct BytesDeserialize<T>(pub T);
 
-            Ok(Self(decoded.into()))
+    impl<'de, T> Deserialize<'de> for BytesDeserialize<T>
+    where
+        T: From<Vec<u8>>,
+    {
+        fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+        where
+            D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+        {
+            Ok(Self(deserializer.deserialize_str(Base64Visitor)?.into()))
         }
     }