diff --git a/astyanax-entity-mapper/src/main/java/com/netflix/astyanax/entitystore/EntityMapper.java b/astyanax-entity-mapper/src/main/java/com/netflix/astyanax/entitystore/EntityMapper.java
index 6280207ca..5b78240c5 100644
--- a/astyanax-entity-mapper/src/main/java/com/netflix/astyanax/entitystore/EntityMapper.java
+++ b/astyanax-entity-mapper/src/main/java/com/netflix/astyanax/entitystore/EntityMapper.java
@@ -100,21 +100,25 @@ public EntityMapper(Class<T> clazz, Integer ttl) {
 			if ((columnAnnotation != null)) {
 				field.setAccessible(true);
 				ColumnMapper columnMapper = null;
-				Entity compositeAnnotation = field.getType().getAnnotation(Entity.class);
-			    if (Map.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType())) {
-                    columnMapper = new MapColumnMapper(field);
-                } else if (Set.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType())) {
-                    columnMapper = new SetColumnMapper(field);
-                } else if(compositeAnnotation == null) {
-                    if (columnAnnotation.unique()) {
-                        Preconditions.checkArgument(tempUniqueMapper == null, "can't have multiple unique columns '" + field.getName() + "'");
-                        tempUniqueMapper = new LeafColumnMapper(field);
-                    }
-                    else {
-                        columnMapper = new LeafColumnMapper(field);
-                    }
+				if (field.getAnnotation(Serializer.class) != null) {
+					columnMapper = new LeafColumnMapper(field);
 				} else {
-	                columnMapper = new CompositeColumnMapper(field);
+					Entity compositeAnnotation = field.getType().getAnnotation(Entity.class);
+					if (Map.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType())) {
+						columnMapper = new MapColumnMapper(field);
+					} else if (Set.class.isAssignableFrom(field.getType())) {
+						columnMapper = new SetColumnMapper(field);
+					} else if(compositeAnnotation == null) {
+						if (columnAnnotation.unique()) {
+							Preconditions.checkArgument(tempUniqueMapper == null, "can't have multiple unique columns '" + field.getName() + "'");
+							tempUniqueMapper = new LeafColumnMapper(field);
+						}
+						else {
+							columnMapper = new LeafColumnMapper(field);
+						}
+					} else {
+						columnMapper = new CompositeColumnMapper(field);
+					}
 				}
 				Preconditions.checkArgument(!usedColumnNames.contains(columnMapper.getColumnName()), 
 						String.format("duplicate case-insensitive column name: %s", columnMapper.getColumnName().toLowerCase()));