diff --git a/awkward0/persist.py b/awkward0/persist.py
index 29c15971..e96ccca3 100644
--- a/awkward0/persist.py
+++ b/awkward0/persist.py
@@ -511,8 +511,8 @@ def deserialize(storage, name="", whitelist=whitelist, cache=None, seen=None):
         schema = schema.decode("ascii")
     schema = json.loads(schema)
 
-    if "awkward" not in schema:
-        raise ValueError("JSON object is not an Awkward Array schema (missing 'awkward' field)")
+    if "awkward" not in schema and "awkward0" not in schema:
+        raise ValueError("JSON object is not an Awkward Array schema (missing 'awkward' or 'awkward0' field). schema is: {}".format(schema))
 
     prefix = schema.get("prefix", "")
     if seen is None:
diff --git a/awkward0/version.py b/awkward0/version.py
index c3f2e353..4b8b88b2 100644
--- a/awkward0/version.py
+++ b/awkward0/version.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 import re
 
-__version__ = "0.15.2"
+__version__ = "0.15.3"
 version = __version__
 version_info = tuple(re.split(r"[-\.]", __version__))