diff --git a/docs/source/changes.md b/docs/source/changes.md
index e92eaa96..a8d93f32 100644
--- a/docs/source/changes.md
+++ b/docs/source/changes.md
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ releases are available on [PyPI](https://pypi.org/project/pytask) and
   nodes in v0.6.0.
 - {pull}`662` adds the `.pixi` folder to be ignored by default during the collection.
 - {pull}`671` enhances the documentation on complex repetitions. Closes {issue}`670`.
+- {pull}`673` adds de-/serializer function attributes to the `PickleNode`. Closes
+  {issue}`669`.
 
 ## 0.5.2 - 2024-12-19
 
diff --git a/docs/source/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes.md b/docs/source/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes.md
index 2204c0c9..68bf0f6a 100644
--- a/docs/source/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes.md
+++ b/docs/source/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes.md
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ Here are some explanations.
   signature is a hash and a unique identifier for the node. For most nodes it will be a
   hash of the path or the name.
 
-- The {func}`classmethod` {meth}`~pytask.PickleNode.from_path` is a convenient method to
+- The classmethod {meth}`~pytask.PickleNode.from_path` is a convenient method to
   instantiate the class.
 
 - The method {meth}`~pytask.PickleNode.state` yields a value that signals the node's
@@ -129,6 +129,13 @@ Here are some explanations.
 - {meth}`~pytask.PickleNode.save` is called when a task function returns and allows to
   save the return values.
 
+## Improvements
+
+Usually, you would like your custom node to work with {class}`pathlib.Path` objects and
+{class}`upath.UPath` objects allowing to work with remote filesystems. To simplify
+getting the state of the node, you can use the {class}`pytask.get_state_of_path`
+function.
+
 ## Conclusion
 
 Nodes are an important in concept pytask. They allow to pytask to build a DAG and
diff --git a/docs_src/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes_example_3_py310.py b/docs_src/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes_example_3_py310.py
index e4d00b2e..87e5f6f0 100644
--- a/docs_src/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes_example_3_py310.py
+++ b/docs_src/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes_example_3_py310.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def __init__(
     ) -> None:
         self.name = name
         self.path = path
-        self.attributes = attributes or {}
+        self.attributes = attributes if attributes is not None else {}
 
     @property
     def signature(self) -> str:
diff --git a/docs_src/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes_example_3_py38.py b/docs_src/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes_example_3_py38.py
index d6499a64..583307d1 100644
--- a/docs_src/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes_example_3_py38.py
+++ b/docs_src/how_to_guides/writing_custom_nodes_example_3_py38.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ def __init__(
     ) -> None:
         self.name = name
         self.path = path
-        self.attributes = attributes or {}
+        self.attributes = attributes if attributes is not None else {}
 
     @property
     def signature(self) -> str:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 0a3d83c8..41a3d5fe 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ test = [
     "syrupy",
     "aiohttp",      # For HTTPPath tests.
     "coiled",
+    "cloudpickle",
 ]
 typing = ["mypy>=1.9.0,<1.11", "nbqa>=1.8.5"]
 
@@ -85,9 +86,7 @@ Tracker = "https://github.com/pytask-dev/pytask/issues"
 pytask = "pytask:cli"
 
 [tool.uv]
-dev-dependencies = [
-    "tox-uv>=1.7.0", "pygraphviz;platform_system=='Linux'",
-]
+dev-dependencies = ["tox-uv>=1.7.0", "pygraphviz;platform_system=='Linux'"]
 
 [build-system]
 requires = ["hatchling", "hatch_vcs"]
diff --git a/src/_pytask/nodes.py b/src/_pytask/nodes.py
index 75b9a0ee..999e1e9d 100644
--- a/src/_pytask/nodes.py
+++ b/src/_pytask/nodes.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 from attrs import define
 from attrs import field
+from typing_extensions import deprecated
 from upath import UPath
 from upath._stat import UPathStatResult
 
@@ -28,6 +29,9 @@
 from _pytask.typing import no_default
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from io import BufferedReader
+    from io import BufferedWriter
+
     from _pytask.mark import Mark
     from _pytask.models import NodeInfo
     from _pytask.tree_util import PyTree
@@ -40,6 +44,7 @@
     "PythonNode",
     "Task",
     "TaskWithoutPath",
+    "get_state_of_path",
 ]
 
 
@@ -145,7 +150,7 @@ def signature(self) -> str:
 
     def state(self) -> str | None:
         """Return the state of the node."""
-        return _get_state(self.path)
+        return get_state_of_path(self.path)
 
     def execute(self, **kwargs: Any) -> Any:
         """Execute the task."""
@@ -188,7 +193,7 @@ def state(self) -> str | None:
         The state is given by the modification timestamp.
 
         """
-        return _get_state(self.path)
+        return get_state_of_path(self.path)
 
     def load(self, is_product: bool = False) -> Path:  # noqa: ARG002
         """Load the value."""
@@ -310,12 +315,18 @@ class PickleNode(PPathNode):
         The path to the file.
     attributes: dict[Any, Any]
         A dictionary to store additional information of the task.
+    serializer
+        A function to serialize the object. Defaults to :func:`pickle.dump`.
+    deserializer
+        A function to deserialize the object. Defaults to :func:`pickle.load`.
 
     """
 
     path: Path
     name: str = ""
     attributes: dict[Any, Any] = field(factory=dict)
+    serializer: Callable[[Any, BufferedWriter], None] = field(default=pickle.dump)
+    deserializer: Callable[[BufferedReader], Any] = field(default=pickle.load)
 
     @property
     def signature(self) -> str:
@@ -332,17 +343,17 @@ def from_path(cls, path: Path) -> PickleNode:
         return cls(name=path.as_posix(), path=path)
 
     def state(self) -> str | None:
-        return _get_state(self.path)
+        return get_state_of_path(self.path)
 
     def load(self, is_product: bool = False) -> Any:
         if is_product:
             return self
         with self.path.open("rb") as f:
-            return pickle.load(f)  # noqa: S301
+            return self.deserializer(f)
 
     def save(self, value: Any) -> None:
         with self.path.open("wb") as f:
-            pickle.dump(value, f)
+            self.serializer(value, f)
 
 
 @define(kw_only=True)
@@ -387,7 +398,7 @@ def collect(self) -> list[Path]:
         return list(self.root_dir.glob(self.pattern))  # type: ignore[union-attr]
 
 
-def _get_state(path: Path) -> str | None:
+def get_state_of_path(path: Path) -> str | None:
     """Get state of a path.
 
     A simple function to handle local and remote files.
@@ -411,3 +422,13 @@ def _get_state(path: Path) -> str | None:
         return stat.as_info().get("ETag", "0")
     msg = "Unknown stat object."
     raise NotImplementedError(msg)
+
+
+@deprecated("Use 'pytask.get_state_of_path' instead.")
+def _get_state(path: Path) -> str | None:
+    """Get state of a path.
+
+    A simple function to handle local and remote files.
+
+    """
+    return get_state_of_path(path)
diff --git a/src/pytask/__init__.py b/src/pytask/__init__.py
index 4caec161..a71d6646 100644
--- a/src/pytask/__init__.py
+++ b/src/pytask/__init__.py
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 from _pytask.nodes import PickleNode
 from _pytask.nodes import PythonNode
 from _pytask.nodes import Task
-from _pytask.nodes import TaskWithoutPath
+from _pytask.nodes import TaskWithoutPath, get_state_of_path
 from _pytask.outcomes import CollectionOutcome
 from _pytask.outcomes import Exit
 from _pytask.outcomes import ExitCode
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@
     "get_all_marks",
     "get_marks",
     "get_plugin_manager",
+    "get_state_of_path",
     "has_mark",
     "hash_value",
     "hookimpl",
diff --git a/tests/test_execute.py b/tests/test_execute.py
index c8cf4cc5..be3bd73e 100644
--- a/tests/test_execute.py
+++ b/tests/test_execute.py
@@ -985,8 +985,7 @@ def test_download_file(runner, tmp_path):
     from upath import UPath
 
     url = UPath(
-        "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/tobiasraabe/64c24426d5398cac4b9d37b85ebfaf"
-        "7c/raw/50c61fa9a5aa0b7d3a7582c4c260b43dabfea720/gistfile1.txt"
+        "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/tobiasraabe/64c24426d5398cac4b9d37b85ebfaf7c/raw/50c61fa9a5aa0b7d3a7582c4c260b43dabfea720/gistfile1.txt"
     )
 
     def task_download_file(path: UPath = url) -> Annotated[str, Path("data.csv")]:
diff --git a/tests/test_nodes.py b/tests/test_nodes.py
index aa20a4e8..4a75b2c8 100644
--- a/tests/test_nodes.py
+++ b/tests/test_nodes.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import pickle
 from pathlib import Path
 
+import cloudpickle
 import pytest
 
 from pytask import NodeInfo
@@ -126,3 +127,43 @@ def test_hash_of_pickle_node(tmp_path, value, exists, expected):
 )
 def test_comply_with_protocol(node, protocol, expected):
     assert isinstance(node, protocol) is expected
+
+
+@pytest.mark.unit
+def test_custom_serializer_deserializer_pickle_node(tmp_path):
+    """Test that PickleNode correctly uses cloudpickle for de-/serialization."""
+
+    # Define custom serializer and deserializer using cloudpickle
+    def custom_serializer(obj, file):
+        # Custom serialization logic that adds a wrapper around the data
+        cloudpickle.dump({"custom_prefix": obj}, file)
+
+    def custom_deserializer(file):
+        # Custom deserialization logic that unwraps the data
+        data = cloudpickle.load(file)
+        return data["custom_prefix"]
+
+    # Create test data and path
+    test_data = {"key": "value"}
+    path = tmp_path.joinpath("custom.pkl")
+
+    # Create PickleNode with custom serializer and deserializer
+    node = PickleNode(
+        name="test",
+        path=path,
+        serializer=custom_serializer,
+        deserializer=custom_deserializer,
+    )
+
+    # Test saving with custom serializer
+    node.save(test_data)
+
+    # Verify custom serialization was used by directly reading the file
+    with path.open("rb") as f:
+        raw_data = cloudpickle.load(f)
+        assert "custom_prefix" in raw_data
+        assert raw_data["custom_prefix"] == test_data
+
+    # Test loading with custom deserializer
+    loaded_data = node.load(is_product=False)
+    assert loaded_data == test_data