diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ca12c32e53..4d4301180f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ and this project adheres to
 - cosmwasm-schema: `#[cw_serde]` now doesn't add `#[serde(deny_unknown_fields)]`
   to the expanded code anymore ([#2080])
 - cosmwasm-std: Improve performance of `Uint{64,128,256,512}::isqrt` ([#2108])
+- cosmwasm-std: Deprecate "compact" serialization of `Binary`, `HexBinary`,
+  `Checksum` ([#2125])
 
 [#2044]: https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm/pull/2044
 [#2051]: https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm/pull/2051
@@ -60,6 +62,7 @@ and this project adheres to
 [#2070]: https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm/pull/2070
 [#2080]: https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm/pull/2080
 [#2108]: https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm/pull/2108
+[#2125]: https://github.com/CosmWasm/cosmwasm/pull/2125
 
 ## [2.0.1] - 2024-04-03
 
diff --git a/packages/core/src/binary.rs b/packages/core/src/binary.rs
index 1d445c7a5a..7564916240 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/binary.rs
+++ b/packages/core/src/binary.rs
@@ -209,7 +209,11 @@ 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.")
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -219,7 +223,11 @@ 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/core/src/hex_binary.rs b/packages/core/src/hex_binary.rs
index f55a8daeae..bce0df2179 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/hex_binary.rs
+++ b/packages/core/src/hex_binary.rs
@@ -212,7 +212,11 @@ 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.")
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -222,7 +226,11 @@ 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.")
+        }
     }
 }
 
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.")
+        }
     }
 }