diff --git a/sdk/Cargo.toml b/sdk/Cargo.toml
index e0e6c0c5b72957..f7132e403f1c1a 100644
--- a/sdk/Cargo.toml
+++ b/sdk/Cargo.toml
@@ -141,7 +141,9 @@ solana-frozen-abi = { workspace = true, optional = true, features = [
 solana-frozen-abi-macro = { workspace = true, optional = true, features = [
     "frozen-abi",
 ] }
-solana-genesis-config = { workspace = true, optional = true }
+solana-genesis-config = { workspace = true, features = [
+    "serde"
+], optional = true }
 solana-hard-forks = { workspace = true, features = [
     "serde",
 ], optional = true }
diff --git a/sdk/genesis-config/Cargo.toml b/sdk/genesis-config/Cargo.toml
index 21b656eda7a275..16da57dd0bd209 100644
--- a/sdk/genesis-config/Cargo.toml
+++ b/sdk/genesis-config/Cargo.toml
@@ -13,23 +13,23 @@ edition = { workspace = true }
 bincode = { workspace = true }
 chrono = { workspace = true, features = ["alloc"] }
 memmap2 = { workspace = true }
-serde = { workspace = true }
-serde_derive = { workspace = true }
-solana-account = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
-solana-clock = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
-solana-cluster-type = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
-solana-epoch-schedule = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
-solana-fee-calculator = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
+serde = { workspace = true, optional = true }
+serde_derive = { workspace = true, optional = true }
+solana-account = { workspace = true }
+solana-clock = { workspace = true }
+solana-cluster-type = { workspace = true }
+solana-epoch-schedule = { workspace = true }
+solana-fee-calculator = { workspace = true }
 solana-frozen-abi = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 solana-frozen-abi-macro = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 solana-hash = { workspace = true }
-solana-inflation = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
+solana-inflation = { workspace = true }
 solana-keypair = { workspace = true }
 solana-logger = { workspace = true }
 solana-native-token = { workspace = true }
-solana-poh-config = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
+solana-poh-config = { workspace = true }
 solana-pubkey = { workspace = true }
-solana-rent = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
+solana-rent = { workspace = true }
 solana-sdk-ids = { workspace = true }
 solana-sha256-hasher = { workspace = true }
 solana-shred-version = { workspace = true }
@@ -41,6 +41,18 @@ solana-pubkey = { workspace = true, features = ["rand"] }
 
 [features]
 frozen-abi = ["dep:solana-frozen-abi", "dep:solana-frozen-abi-macro"]
+serde = [
+    "dep:serde",
+    "dep:serde_derive",
+    "solana-account/serde",
+    "solana-clock/serde",
+    "solana-cluster-type/serde",
+    "solana-epoch-schedule/serde",
+    "solana-fee-calculator/serde",
+    "solana-inflation/serde",
+    "solana-poh-config/serde",
+    "solana-rent/serde",
+]
 
 [package.metadata.docs.rs]
 targets = ["x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu"]
diff --git a/sdk/genesis-config/src/lib.rs b/sdk/genesis-config/src/lib.rs
index a407223ba95493..6fd738a6c6d798 100644
--- a/sdk/genesis-config/src/lib.rs
+++ b/sdk/genesis-config/src/lib.rs
@@ -9,33 +9,37 @@
 pub use solana_cluster_type::ClusterType;
 #[cfg(feature = "frozen-abi")]
 use solana_frozen_abi_macro::{frozen_abi, AbiExample};
+#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
 use {
     bincode::{deserialize, serialize},
     chrono::{TimeZone, Utc},
     memmap2::Mmap,
-    serde_derive::{Deserialize, Serialize},
+    solana_hash::Hash,
+    solana_native_token::lamports_to_sol,
+    solana_sha256_hasher::hash,
+    solana_shred_version::compute_shred_version,
+    std::{
+        fmt,
+        fs::{File, OpenOptions},
+        io::Write,
+        path::{Path, PathBuf},
+    },
+};
+use {
     solana_account::{Account, AccountSharedData},
     solana_clock::{UnixTimestamp, DEFAULT_TICKS_PER_SLOT},
     solana_epoch_schedule::EpochSchedule,
     solana_fee_calculator::FeeRateGovernor,
-    solana_hash::Hash,
     solana_inflation::Inflation,
     solana_keypair::Keypair,
-    solana_native_token::lamports_to_sol,
     solana_poh_config::PohConfig,
     solana_pubkey::Pubkey,
     solana_rent::Rent,
     solana_sdk_ids::system_program,
-    solana_sha256_hasher::hash,
-    solana_shred_version::compute_shred_version,
     solana_signer::Signer,
     solana_time_utils::years_as_slots,
     std::{
         collections::BTreeMap,
-        fmt,
-        fs::{File, OpenOptions},
-        io::Write,
-        path::{Path, PathBuf},
         time::{SystemTime, UNIX_EPOCH},
     },
 };
@@ -52,7 +56,11 @@ pub const UNUSED_DEFAULT: u64 = 1024;
     derive(AbiExample),
     frozen_abi(digest = "D9VFRSj4fodCuKFC9omQY2zY2Uw8wo6SzJFLeMJaVigm")
 )]
-#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
+#[cfg_attr(
+    feature = "serde",
+    derive(serde_derive::Deserialize, serde_derive::Serialize)
+)]
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub struct GenesisConfig {
     /// when the network (bootstrap validator) was started relative to the UNIX Epoch
     pub creation_time: UnixTimestamp,
@@ -135,15 +143,18 @@ impl GenesisConfig {
         }
     }
 
+    #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
     pub fn hash(&self) -> Hash {
         let serialized = serialize(&self).unwrap();
         hash(&serialized)
     }
 
+    #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
     fn genesis_filename(ledger_path: &Path) -> PathBuf {
         Path::new(ledger_path).join(DEFAULT_GENESIS_FILE)
     }
 
+    #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
     pub fn load(ledger_path: &Path) -> Result<Self, std::io::Error> {
         let filename = Self::genesis_filename(ledger_path);
         let file = OpenOptions::new()
@@ -173,6 +184,7 @@ impl GenesisConfig {
         Ok(genesis_config)
     }
 
+    #[cfg(feature = "serde")]
     pub fn write(&self, ledger_path: &Path) -> Result<(), std::io::Error> {
         let serialized = serialize(&self).map_err(|err| {
             std::io::Error::new(
@@ -219,6 +231,7 @@ impl GenesisConfig {
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
 impl fmt::Display for GenesisConfig {
     fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter) -> fmt::Result {
         write!(
@@ -276,7 +289,7 @@ impl fmt::Display for GenesisConfig {
     }
 }
 
-#[cfg(test)]
+#[cfg(all(feature = "serde", test))]
 mod tests {
     use {super::*, solana_signer::Signer, std::path::PathBuf};