diff --git a/crates/binjs_generate_library/src/lib.rs b/crates/binjs_generate_library/src/lib.rs
index 890b1b332..7f6a601cb 100644
--- a/crates/binjs_generate_library/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/binjs_generate_library/src/lib.rs
@@ -119,6 +119,13 @@ use io::*;
 
 use std::convert::{ From };
 
+/// Dummy single-variant enum to deserialize only a string `type` and fail otherwise.
+#[derive(Deserialize)]
+enum TypeKey {
+    #[serde(rename = \"type\")]
+    TypeKey,
+}
+
 ");
 
         // Buffer used to generate the generic data structure (struct declaration).
@@ -379,7 +386,7 @@ impl<'a> Walker<'a> for {name} where Self: 'a {{
                     let definition = format!(
                         "
 /// Implementation of interface sum {node_name}
-#[derive(PartialEq, Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[derive(PartialEq, Debug, Clone, Serialize)]
 #[serde(tag = \"type\")]
 pub enum {name} {{
 {contents}
@@ -387,6 +394,41 @@ pub enum {name} {{
     BinASTStolen,
 }}\n
 
+// An optimised implementation of tagged deserialise that expects `type` to be the first key in the object.
+//
+// This does not strictly adhere to JSON spec, but gives ~2.5x better performance than generic
+// deserialistaion with arbitrary ordering.
+//
+// See https://github.com/serde-rs/serde/issues/1495 for details.
+impl<'de> serde::Deserialize<'de> for {name} {{
+    fn deserialize<D: serde::Deserializer<'de>>(de: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error> {{
+        #[derive(Deserialize)]
+        enum VariantTag {{
+            {variant_tags}
+        }}
+
+        struct MapVisitor;
+
+        impl<'de> serde::de::Visitor<'de> for MapVisitor {{
+            type Value = {name};
+
+            fn expecting(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter) -> std::fmt::Result {{
+                f.write_str(\"an object\")
+            }}
+
+            fn visit_map<A: serde::de::MapAccess<'de>>(self, mut map: A) -> Result<{name}, A::Error> {{
+                let (_, variant): (TypeKey, VariantTag) = map.next_entry()?.ok_or_else(|| serde::de::Error::invalid_length(0, &\"1 or more items\"))?;
+                let de = serde::de::value::MapAccessDeserializer::new(map);
+                match variant {{
+                    {value_variants}
+                }}
+            }}
+        }}
+
+        de.deserialize_map(MapVisitor)
+    }}
+}}
+
 /// A mechanism to view value as an instance of interface sum {node_name}
 ///
 /// Used to perform shallow cast between larger sums and smaller sums.
@@ -408,6 +450,21 @@ pub enum ViewMut{name}<'a> {{\n{ref_mut_contents}\n}}\n",
                                 name = case.to_class_cases()
                             ))
                             .format(",\n"),
+                        variant_tags = types
+                            .iter()
+                            .map(|case| format!(
+                                "    {name}",
+                                name = case.to_class_cases()
+                            ))
+                            .format(",\n"),
+                        value_variants = types
+                            .iter()
+                            .map(|case| format!(
+                                "    VariantTag::{case} => serde::Deserialize::deserialize(de).map({name}::{case})",
+                                name = name,
+                                case = case.to_class_cases()
+                            ))
+                            .format(",\n"),
                     );
 
                     let single_variant_from = format!(
diff --git a/src/source/shift.rs b/src/source/shift.rs
index 5c726f203..e89d0ed29 100644
--- a/src/source/shift.rs
+++ b/src/source/shift.rs
@@ -95,30 +95,30 @@ impl Script {
         I: ?Sized + serde::Serialize,
         O: serde::de::DeserializeOwned,
     {
-        let output = (move || {
+        let output = {
             let mut io = self.0.lock().unwrap();
-            serde_json::to_writer(&mut io.input, input)?;
-            writeln!(io.input)?;
-            io.output.next().unwrap()
-        })()
-        .map_err(Error::IOError)?;
 
-        let mut deserializer = serde_json::Deserializer::from_str(&output);
+            serde_json::to_writer(&mut io.input, input).map_err(Error::JSONError)?;
+            writeln!(io.input).map_err(Error::IOError)?;
 
-        deserializer.disable_recursion_limit();
+            io.output.next().unwrap().map_err(Error::IOError)?
+        };
 
         #[derive(Deserialize)]
         #[serde(tag = "type", content = "value")]
-        enum CustomResult<T> {
+        #[serde(remote = "std::result::Result")]
+        enum Result<T, E> {
             Ok(T),
-            Err(String),
+            Err(E),
         }
 
-        match CustomResult::deserialize(&mut deserializer) {
-            Ok(CustomResult::Ok(v)) => Ok(v),
-            Ok(CustomResult::Err(msg)) => Err(Error::ParsingError(msg)),
-            Err(err) => Err(Error::JSONError(err)),
-        }
+        let mut deserializer = serde_json::Deserializer::from_str(&output);
+
+        deserializer.disable_recursion_limit();
+
+        Result::deserialize(&mut deserializer)
+            .map_err(Error::JSONError)?
+            .map_err(Error::ParsingError)
     }
 }