diff --git a/third_party/sqlite3/sqlite3.mk b/third_party/sqlite3/sqlite3.mk
index e2d6b4925..621393972 100644
--- a/third_party/sqlite3/sqlite3.mk
+++ b/third_party/sqlite3/sqlite3.mk
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ THIRD_PARTY_SQLITE3_FLAGS =						\
 	-DSQLITE_HAVE_C99_MATH_FUNCS					\
 	-DSQLITE_ENABLE_MATH_FUNCTIONS					\
 	-DSQLITE_ENABLE_JSON1						\
+	-DSQLITE_ENABLE_DESERIALIZE \
 
 $(THIRD_PARTY_SQLITE3_A_OBJS):						\
 		OVERRIDE_CFLAGS +=					\
diff --git a/tool/net/demo/.init.lua b/tool/net/demo/.init.lua
index 304d0f89a..19bf04366 100644
--- a/tool/net/demo/.init.lua
+++ b/tool/net/demo/.init.lua
@@ -9,16 +9,35 @@ HidePath('/usr/share/ssl/')
 -- LaunchBrowser('/tool/net/demo/index.html')
 
 -- sql database (see sql.lua)
-db = sqlite3.open_memory()
-db:exec[[
-  CREATE TABLE test (
-    id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
-    content TEXT
-  );
-  INSERT INTO test (content) VALUES ('Hello World');
-  INSERT INTO test (content) VALUES ('Hello Lua');
-  INSERT INTO test (content) VALUES ('Hello Sqlite3');
-]]
+function StoreSqlite(database, path)
+   local buffer = database:serialize()
+   return StoreAsset(path, buffer)
+end
+
+function LoadSqlite(path)
+   local database = sqlite3.open_memory()
+   local buffer = LoadAsset(path)
+   database:deserialize(buffer)
+   return database
+end
+
+database = "database.sqlite3"
+-- Check if there is already a database
+if GetAssetSize(database) ~= nil then
+   db = LoadSqlite(database)
+   db:exec[[
+      INSERT INTO test (content) VALUES ('World');
+   ]]
+else
+   db = sqlite3.open_memory()
+   db:exec[[
+      CREATE TABLE test (
+         id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
+         content TEXT
+      );
+      INSERT INTO test (content) VALUES ('Hello');
+   ]]
+end
 
 -- this intercepts all requests if it's defined
 function OnHttpRequest()
@@ -35,6 +54,11 @@ function OnHttpRequest()
    SetHeader('Server', 'redbean!')
 end
 
+function OnServerStop()
+   -- make sure we store the database on exit
+   StoreSqlite(db, database)
+end
+
 function Adder(x, y)
    return x + y
 end
diff --git a/tool/net/lsqlite3.c b/tool/net/lsqlite3.c
index 0510e736f..610b34293 100644
--- a/tool/net/lsqlite3.c
+++ b/tool/net/lsqlite3.c
@@ -1683,6 +1683,39 @@ static int db_gc(lua_State *L) {
     return 0;
 }
 
+static int db_serialize(lua_State *L) {
+    sdb *db = lsqlite_getdb(L, 1);
+    sqlite_int64 size = 0;
+
+    if (db->db == NULL) /* ignore closed databases */
+        return 0;
+    
+    char *buffer = (char *)sqlite3_serialize(db->db, "main", &size, 0);
+    if (buffer == NULL) /* ignore failed database serialization */
+        return 0;
+
+    lua_pushlstring(L, buffer, size);
+    free(buffer);
+    return 1;
+}
+
+static int db_deserialize(lua_State *L) {
+    sdb *db = lsqlite_getdb(L, 1);
+    size_t size = 0;
+
+    if (db->db == NULL) /* ignore closed databases */
+        return 0;
+
+
+    const char *buffer = luaL_checklstring(L, 2, &size);
+    if (buffer == NULL || size == 0) /* ignore empty database content */
+        return 0;
+
+    sqlite3_deserialize(db->db, "main", buffer, size, 5, 0);
+    free(buffer);
+    return 0;
+}
+
 /*
 ** =======================================================
 ** General library functions
@@ -1857,6 +1890,9 @@ static const luaL_Reg dblib[] = {
     {"close",               db_close                },
     {"close_vm",            db_close_vm             },
 
+    {"serialize",           db_serialize            },
+    {"deserialize",         db_deserialize          },
+
     {"__tostring",          db_tostring             },
     {"__gc",                db_gc                   },