diff --git a/src/JMS/Serializer/GraphNavigator.php b/src/JMS/Serializer/GraphNavigator.php
index 08503bd53..2748fc26f 100644
--- a/src/JMS/Serializer/GraphNavigator.php
+++ b/src/JMS/Serializer/GraphNavigator.php
@@ -150,6 +150,15 @@ public function accept($data, array $type = null, Context $context)
                 return $visitor->visitDouble($data, $type, $context);
 
             case 'array':
+                $metadata = $context->getMetadataStack()->count() ? $context->getMetadataStack()->top() : null;
+                if ($visitor instanceof XmlDeserializationVisitor && null !== $metadata && $metadata->xmlKeyValuePairs) {
+                    $visitor->setCurrentMetadata($metadata);
+                    $result = $visitor->visitArray($data, $type, $context);
+                    $visitor->revertCurrentMetadata();
+
+                    return $result;
+                }
+
                 return $visitor->visitArray($data, $type, $context);
 
             case 'resource':
diff --git a/src/JMS/Serializer/XmlDeserializationVisitor.php b/src/JMS/Serializer/XmlDeserializationVisitor.php
index a604ea5fb..28145f6f5 100644
--- a/src/JMS/Serializer/XmlDeserializationVisitor.php
+++ b/src/JMS/Serializer/XmlDeserializationVisitor.php
@@ -151,6 +151,23 @@ public function visitDouble($data, array $type, Context $context)
 
     public function visitArray($data, array $type, Context $context)
     {
+        // handle key-value-pairs
+        if (null !== $this->currentMetadata && $this->currentMetadata->xmlKeyValuePairs) {
+            if (2 !== count($type['params'])) {
+                throw new RuntimeException('The array type must be specified as "array<K,V>" for Key-Value-Pairs.');
+            }
+
+            list($keyType, $entryType) = $type['params'];
+
+            $result = [];
+            foreach ($data as $key => $v) {
+                $k = $this->navigator->accept($key, $keyType, $context);
+                $result[$k] = $this->navigator->accept($v, $entryType, $context);
+            }
+
+            return $result;
+        }
+
         $entryName = null !== $this->currentMetadata && $this->currentMetadata->xmlEntryName ? $this->currentMetadata->xmlEntryName : 'entry';
         $namespace = null !== $this->currentMetadata && $this->currentMetadata->xmlEntryNamespace ? $this->currentMetadata->xmlEntryNamespace : null;
 
diff --git a/tests/Fixtures/ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType.php b/tests/Fixtures/ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f6ebc5534
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Fixtures/ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType.php
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Johannes M. Schmitt <schmittjoh@gmail.com>
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+namespace JMS\Serializer\Tests\Fixtures;
+
+use JMS\Serializer\Annotation\Type;
+use JMS\Serializer\Annotation\XmlKeyValuePairs;
+
+class ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType
+{
+    /**
+     * @var array
+     * @Type("array<string,string>")
+     * @XmlKeyValuePairs
+     */
+    private $list;
+
+    /**
+     * @var array
+     * @Type("array<string>")
+     */
+    private $list2;
+
+    public function __construct(array $list, array $list2 = [])
+    {
+        $this->list = $list;
+        $this->list2 = $list2;
+    }
+
+    public static function create1()
+    {
+        return new self(
+            [
+                'key-one' => 'foo',
+                'key-two' => 'bar',
+            ]
+        );
+    }
+
+    public static function create2()
+    {
+        return new self(
+            [
+                'key_01' => 'One',
+                'key_02' => 'Two',
+                'key_03' => 'Three',
+            ],
+            [
+                'Four',
+            ]
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Serializer/XmlSerializationTest.php b/tests/Serializer/XmlSerializationTest.php
index b2d1e2425..e5ac29aad 100644
--- a/tests/Serializer/XmlSerializationTest.php
+++ b/tests/Serializer/XmlSerializationTest.php
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 use JMS\Serializer\Tests\Fixtures\ObjectWithToString;
 use JMS\Serializer\Tests\Fixtures\ObjectWithVirtualXmlProperties;
 use JMS\Serializer\Tests\Fixtures\ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairs;
+use JMS\Serializer\Tests\Fixtures\ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType;
 use JMS\Serializer\Tests\Fixtures\ObjectWithXmlNamespaces;
 use JMS\Serializer\Tests\Fixtures\ObjectWithXmlNamespacesAndObjectProperty;
 use JMS\Serializer\Tests\Fixtures\ObjectWithXmlNamespacesAndObjectPropertyAuthor;
@@ -249,6 +250,19 @@ public function testArrayKeyValues()
         $this->assertEquals($this->getContent('array_key_values'), $this->serializer->serialize(new ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairs(), 'xml'));
     }
 
+    public function testDeserializeArrayKeyValues()
+    {
+        $xml = $this->getContent('array_key_values_with_type_1');
+        $result = $this->serializer->deserialize($xml, ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType::class, 'xml');
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType::class, $result);
+        $this->assertEquals(ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType::create1(), $result);
+
+        $xml2 = $this->getContent('array_key_values_with_type_2');
+        $result2 = $this->serializer->deserialize($xml2, ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType::class, 'xml');
+        $this->assertInstanceOf(ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType::class, $result2);
+        $this->assertEquals(ObjectWithXmlKeyValuePairsWithType::create2(), $result2);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @dataProvider getDateTime
      * @group datetime
diff --git a/tests/Serializer/xml/array_key_values_with_type_1.xml b/tests/Serializer/xml/array_key_values_with_type_1.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7b3bfc964
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Serializer/xml/array_key_values_with_type_1.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<result>
+  <list>
+    <key-one><![CDATA[foo]]></key-one>
+    <key-two><![CDATA[bar]]></key-two>
+  </list>
+  <list2></list2>
+</result>
diff --git a/tests/Serializer/xml/array_key_values_with_type_2.xml b/tests/Serializer/xml/array_key_values_with_type_2.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a5a518b65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Serializer/xml/array_key_values_with_type_2.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<result>
+  <list>
+    <key_01><![CDATA[One]]></key_01>
+    <key_02><![CDATA[Two]]></key_02>
+    <key_03><![CDATA[Three]]></key_03>
+  </list>
+  <list2>
+    <entry><![CDATA[Four]]></entry>
+  </list2>
+</result>