diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8a9e36022..1d4157ae8 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ If you are planning to use Kryo for network communication, the [KryoNet](https:/
 - [Interoperability](#interoperability)
 - [Stack size](#stack-size)
 - [Threading](#threading)
+- [Pooling Kryo instances](#pooling-kryo-instances)
 - [Logging](#logging)
 - [Integration with Maven](#integration-with-maven)
 - [Using Kryo without Maven](#using-kryo-without-maven)
@@ -531,6 +532,59 @@ The serializers Kryo provides use the call stack when serializing nested objects
 
 **Kryo is not thread safe. Each thread should have its own Kryo, Input, and Output instances. Also, the byte[] Input uses may be modified and then returned to its original state during deserialization, so the same byte[] "should not be used concurrently in separate threads**.
 
+## Pooling Kryo instances
+
+Because the creation/initialization of `Kryo` instances is rather expensive, in a multithreaded scenario you should pool `Kryo` instances.
+A very simple solution is to bind `Kryo` instances to Threads using `ThreadLocal`, like this:
+
+```java
+// Setup ThreadLocal of Kryo instances
+private ThreadLocal<Kryo> kryos = new ThreadLocal<Kryo>() {
+	protected Kryo initialValue() {
+		Kryo kryo = new Kryo();
+		// configure kryo instance, customize settings
+		return kryo;
+	};
+};
+
+// Somewhere else, use Kryo
+Kryo k = kryos.get();
+...
+```
+
+Alternatively you may want to use the `KryoPool` provided by kryo. The `KryoPool` keeps references to `Kryo` instances
+using `SoftReference`s, so that `Kryo` instances will be GC'ed when the JVM starts to run out of memory
+(of course you could use `ThreadLocal` with `SoftReference`s as well).
+
+Here's an example that shows how to use the `KryoPool`:
+
+```java
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.Kryo;
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool.KryoCallback;
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool.KryoFactory;
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool.KryoPool;
+
+KryoFactory factory = new KryoFactory() {
+  public Kryo create () {
+    Kryo kryo = new Kryo();
+    // configure kryo instance, customize settings
+    return kryo;
+  }
+};
+KryoPool pool = new KryoPool(factory);
+Kryo kryo = pool.borrow();
+// do s.th. with kryo here, and afterwards release it
+pool.release(kryo);
+
+// or use a callback to work with kryo - no need to borrow/release,
+// that's done by `run`.
+String value = pool.run(new KryoCallback() {
+  public String execute(Kryo kryo) {
+    return kryo.readObject(input, String.class);
+  }
+});
+```
+
 ## Logging
 
 Kryo makes use of the low overhead, lightweight [MinLog logging library](http://code.google.com/p/minlog/). The logging level can be set by one of the following methods:
diff --git a/src/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoCallback.java b/src/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoCallback.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b784d3813
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoCallback.java
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool;
+
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.Kryo;
+
+/**
+ * Callback to run with a provided kryo instance.
+ *
+ * @author Martin Grotzke
+ *
+ * @param <T> The type of the result of the interaction with kryo.
+ */
+public interface KryoCallback<T> {
+	T execute(Kryo kryo);
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoFactory.java b/src/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c3620245b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool;
+
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.Kryo;
+
+/**
+ * Factory to create new configured instances of {@link Kryo}.
+ * 
+ * @author Martin Grotzke
+ */
+public interface KryoFactory {
+	Kryo create();
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoPool.java b/src/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoPool.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6f28bb90c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoPool.java
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+package com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool;
+
+import java.lang.ref.SoftReference;
+import java.util.Queue;
+import java.util.concurrent.Callable;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentLinkedQueue;
+
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.Kryo;
+
+/**
+ * A simple, queue based pool for {@link Kryo} instances. Kryo instances
+ * are cached using {@link SoftReference}s and therefore should not cause
+ * OOMEs.
+ * 
+ * Usage:
+ * <pre>
+ * import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.Kryo;
+ * import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool.KryoCallback;
+ * import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool.KryoFactory;
+ * import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool.KryoPool;
+ * 
+ * KryoFactory factory = new KryoFactory() {
+ *   public Kryo create () {
+ *     Kryo kryo = new Kryo();
+ *     // configure kryo instance, customize settings
+ *     return kryo;
+ *   }
+ * };
+ * KryoPool pool = new KryoPool(factory);
+ * Kryo kryo = pool.borrow();
+ * // do s.th. with kryo here, and afterwards release it
+ * pool.release(kryo);
+ * 
+ * // or use a callback to work with kryo (pool.run borrows+releases for you)
+ * String value = pool.run(new KryoCallback<String>() {
+ *   public String execute(Kryo kryo) {
+ *     return kryo.readObject(input, String.class);
+ *   }
+ * });
+ *
+ * </pre>
+ * 
+ * @author Martin Grotzke
+ */
+public class KryoPool {
+	
+	private final Queue<SoftReference<Kryo>> queue;
+	private final KryoFactory factory;
+
+	public KryoPool(KryoFactory factory) {
+		this(factory, new ConcurrentLinkedQueue<SoftReference<Kryo>>());
+	}
+
+	public KryoPool(KryoFactory factory, Queue<SoftReference<Kryo>> queue) {
+		this.factory = factory;
+		this.queue = queue;
+	}
+
+	public int size () {
+		return queue.size();
+	}
+
+	public Kryo borrow () {
+		Kryo res;
+		SoftReference<Kryo> ref;
+		while((ref = queue.poll()) != null) {
+			if((res = ref.get()) != null) {
+				return res;
+			}
+		}
+		return factory.create();
+	}
+
+	public void release (Kryo kryo) {
+		queue.offer(new SoftReference(kryo));
+	}
+
+	public <T> T run(KryoCallback<T> callback) {
+		Kryo kryo = borrow();
+		try {
+			return callback.execute(kryo);
+		} finally {
+			release(kryo);
+		}
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/test/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoPoolBenchmarkTest.java b/test/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoPoolBenchmarkTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c67993d44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoPoolBenchmarkTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+package com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNotNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertSame;
+
+import java.io.ByteArrayInputStream;
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
+import java.io.Externalizable;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.ObjectInput;
+import java.io.ObjectInputStream;
+import java.io.ObjectOutput;
+import java.io.ObjectOutputStream;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.FieldSerializerTest.DefaultTypes;
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.Kryo;
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.KryoSerializable;
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.io.Input;
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.io.Output;
+
+public class KryoPoolBenchmarkTest {
+
+	private static final int WARMUP_ITERATIONS = 10000;
+
+	/** Number of runs. */
+	private static final int RUN_CNT = 10;
+
+	/** Number of iterations. Set it to something rather big for obtaining meaningful results */
+// private static final int ITER_CNT = 200000;
+	private static final int ITER_CNT = 10000;
+	private static final int SLEEP_BETWEEN_RUNS = 100;
+	
+	KryoFactory factory;
+	KryoPool pool;
+	
+	@Before
+	public void beforeMethod() {
+		factory = new KryoFactory() {
+			@Override
+			public Kryo create () {
+				Kryo kryo = new Kryo();
+				kryo.register(DefaultTypes.class);
+				kryo.register(SampleObject.class);
+				return kryo;
+			}
+		};
+		pool = new KryoPool(factory);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testWithoutPool() throws Exception {
+		// Warm-up phase: Perform 100000 iterations
+		runWithoutPool(1, WARMUP_ITERATIONS, false);
+		runWithoutPool(RUN_CNT, ITER_CNT, true);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testWithPool() throws Exception {
+		// Warm-up phase: Perform 100000 iterations
+		runWithPool(1, WARMUP_ITERATIONS, false);
+		runWithPool(RUN_CNT, ITER_CNT, true);
+	}
+
+	private void run (String description, Runnable runnable, final int runCount, final int iterCount, boolean outputResults) throws Exception {
+		long avgDur = 0;
+		long bestTime = Long.MAX_VALUE;
+
+		for (int i = 0; i < runCount; i++) {
+			long start = System.nanoTime();
+
+			for (int j = 0; j < iterCount; j++) {
+				runnable.run();
+			}
+
+			long dur = System.nanoTime() - start;
+			dur = TimeUnit.NANOSECONDS.toMillis(dur);
+
+			if (outputResults) System.out.format(">>> %s (run %d): %,d ms\n", description, i + 1, dur);
+			avgDur += dur;
+			bestTime = Math.min(bestTime, dur);
+			systemCleanupAfterRun();
+		}
+
+		avgDur /= runCount;
+
+		if (outputResults) {
+			System.out.format("\n>>> %s (average): %,d ms", description, avgDur);
+			System.out.format("\n>>> %s (best time): %,d ms\n\n", description, bestTime);
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	private void runWithoutPool (final int runCount, final int iterCount, boolean outputResults) throws Exception {
+		run("Without pool", new Runnable() {
+			@Override
+			public void run () {
+				factory.create();
+			}
+		}, runCount, iterCount, outputResults);
+	}
+
+	private void runWithPool (final int runCount, final int iterCount, boolean outputResults) throws Exception {
+		run("With pool", new Runnable() {
+			@Override
+			public void run () {
+				Kryo kryo = pool.borrow();
+				pool.release(kryo);
+			}
+		}, runCount, iterCount, outputResults);
+	}
+
+	private void systemCleanupAfterRun () throws InterruptedException {
+		System.gc();
+		Thread.sleep(SLEEP_BETWEEN_RUNS);
+		System.gc();
+	}
+
+	private static class SampleObject {
+		private int intVal;
+		private float floatVal;
+		private Short shortVal;
+		private long[] longArr;
+		private double[] dblArr;
+		private String str;
+
+		public SampleObject () {
+		}
+
+		SampleObject (int intVal, float floatVal, Short shortVal, long[] longArr, double[] dblArr, String str) {
+			this.intVal = intVal;
+			this.floatVal = floatVal;
+			this.shortVal = shortVal;
+			this.longArr = longArr;
+			this.dblArr = dblArr;
+			this.str = str;
+		}
+
+		/** {@inheritDoc} */
+		@Override
+		public boolean equals (Object other) {
+			if (this == other) return true;
+
+			if (other == null || getClass() != other.getClass()) return false;
+
+			SampleObject obj = (SampleObject)other;
+
+			return intVal == obj.intVal && floatVal == obj.floatVal && shortVal.equals(obj.shortVal)
+				&& Arrays.equals(dblArr, obj.dblArr) && Arrays.equals(longArr, obj.longArr) && (str == null ? obj.str == null : str.equals(obj.str));
+		}
+	}
+
+	
+}
diff --git a/test/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoPoolTest.java b/test/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoPoolTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..607d117e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/com/esotericsoftware/kryo/pool/KryoPoolTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+package com.esotericsoftware.kryo.pool;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertFalse;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertSame;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
+import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+
+import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import com.esotericsoftware.kryo.Kryo;
+
+public class KryoPoolTest {
+	
+	private KryoFactory factory;
+	private KryoPool pool;
+	
+	@Before
+	public void beforeMethod() {
+		factory = new KryoFactory() {
+			@Override
+			public Kryo create () {
+				Kryo kryo = new Kryo();
+				// configure kryo
+				return kryo;
+			}
+		};
+		pool = new KryoPool(factory);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void getShouldReturnAvailableInstance() {
+		Kryo kryo = pool.borrow();
+		pool.release(kryo);
+		assertTrue(kryo == pool.borrow());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void releaseShouldAddKryoToPool() {
+		assertEquals(0, pool.size());
+		Kryo kryo = pool.borrow();
+		pool.release(kryo);
+		assertEquals(1, pool.size());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testSize() {
+		assertEquals(0, pool.size());
+		Kryo kryo1 = pool.borrow();
+		assertEquals(0, pool.size());
+		Kryo kryo2 = pool.borrow();
+		assertFalse(kryo1 == kryo2);
+		pool.release(kryo1);
+		assertEquals(1, pool.size());
+		pool.release(kryo2);
+		assertEquals(2, pool.size());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void runWithKryoShouldReturnResult() {
+		String value = pool.run(new KryoCallback<String>() {
+			@Override
+			public String execute(Kryo kryo) {
+				return "foo";
+			}
+		});
+		assertEquals("foo", value);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void runWithKryoShouldAddKryoToPool() {
+		assertEquals(0, pool.size());
+		pool.run(new KryoCallback<String>() {
+			@Override
+			public String execute(Kryo kryo) {
+				return null;
+			}
+		});
+		assertEquals(1, pool.size());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void runWithKryoShouldAddKryoToPoolOnException() {
+		assertEquals(0, pool.size());
+		try {
+			pool.run(new KryoCallback<String>() {
+				@Override
+				public String execute(Kryo kryo) {
+					throw new RuntimeException();
+				}
+			});
+			fail("Exception should be rethrown.");
+		} catch(RuntimeException e) {
+			// expected
+		}
+		assertEquals(1, pool.size());
+	}
+
+	@Test(expected = IllegalArgumentException.class)
+	public void runWithKryoShouldRethrowException() {
+		String value = pool.run(new KryoCallback<String>() {
+			@Override
+			public String execute(Kryo kryo) {
+				throw new IllegalArgumentException();
+			}
+		});
+	}
+	
+}