diff --git a/lib/Makefile.am b/lib/Makefile.am
index 3cb592c..5581ce0 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/Makefile.am
@@ -21,13 +21,16 @@
 SUBDIRS += rb
 endif
 
+if WITH_PERL
+SUBDIRS += perl
+endif
+
 # All of the libs that don't use Automake need to go in here
 # so they will end up in our release tarballs.
 EXTRA_DIST = \
   cocoa \
   hs    \
   ocaml \
-  perl  \
   php   \
   erl   \
   st
diff --git a/lib/perl/Makefile.am b/lib/perl/Makefile.am
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d775fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/perl/Makefile.am
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+SUBDIRS = test
+
+Makefile-perl.mk : Makefile.PL
+	$(PERL) Makefile.PL MAKEFILE=Makefile-perl.mk
+
+all-local: Makefile-perl.mk
+	$(MAKE) -f Makefile-perl.mk
+	find blib -name 'Makefile*' -exec rm -f {} \;
+
+check-local:
+	$(PERL) -Iblib/lib -I@abs_srcdir@ -I@builddir@/test/gen-perl \
+		@abs_srcdir@/test.pl @abs_srcdir@/test/*.t
+
+install-exec-local: Makefile-perl.mk
+	$(MAKE) -f Makefile-perl.mk install DESTDIR=$(DESTDIR)/
+
+clean-local: Makefile-perl.mk
+	$(MAKE) -f Makefile-perl.mk clean
+	rm -f Makefile-perl.mk.old
+
+EXTRA_DIST = MANIFEST \
+	Makefile.PL \
+	test.pl \
+	lib/Thrift.pm \
+	lib/Thrift.pm \
+	lib/Thrift/BinaryProtocol.pm \
+	lib/Thrift/BufferedTransport.pm \
+	lib/Thrift/FramedTransport.pm \
+	lib/Thrift/HttpClient.pm \
+	lib/Thrift/MemoryBuffer.pm \
+	lib/Thrift/Protocol.pm \
+	lib/Thrift/Socket.pm \
+	lib/Thrift/Transport.pm
diff --git a/lib/perl/test.pl b/lib/perl/test.pl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff33f8a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/perl/test.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use Test::Harness;
+
+runtests(@ARGV);
diff --git a/lib/perl/test/Makefile.am b/lib/perl/test/Makefile.am
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..686b909
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/perl/test/Makefile.am
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+THRIFT = @top_builddir@/compiler/cpp/thrift
+THRIFT_IF = @top_srcdir@/test/ThriftTest.thrift
+
+all-local: gen-perl/ThriftTest/Types.pm
+
+gen-perl/ThriftTest/Types.pm: $(THRIFT_IF)
+	$(THRIFT) --gen perl $(THRIFT_IF)
+
+clean-local:
+	rm -rf gen-perl
+
+EXTRA_DIST = memory_buffer.t
diff --git a/lib/perl/test/memory_buffer.t b/lib/perl/test/memory_buffer.t
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89510c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/perl/test/memory_buffer.t
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+use Test::More tests => 6;
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use Data::Dumper;
+
+use Thrift::BinaryProtocol;
+use Thrift::MemoryBuffer;
+
+use ThriftTest::Types;
+
+
+my $transport = Thrift::MemoryBuffer->new();
+my $protocol = Thrift::BinaryProtocol->new($transport);
+
+my $a = ThriftTest::Xtruct->new();
+$a->i32_thing(10);
+$a->i64_thing(30);
+$a->string_thing('Hello, world!');
+$a->write($protocol);
+
+my $b = ThriftTest::Xtruct->new();
+$b->read($protocol);
+is($b->i32_thing, $a->i32_thing);
+is($b->i64_thing, $a->i64_thing);
+is($b->string_thing, $a->string_thing);
+
+$b->write($protocol);
+my $c = ThriftTest::Xtruct->new();
+$c->read($protocol);
+is($c->i32_thing, $a->i32_thing);
+is($c->i64_thing, $a->i64_thing);
+is($c->string_thing, $a->string_thing);