diff --git a/sdk/clock/Cargo.toml b/sdk/clock/Cargo.toml
index 494d3ffeb955bb..726d6781b3a8d8 100644
--- a/sdk/clock/Cargo.toml
+++ b/sdk/clock/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,12 +10,15 @@ license = { workspace = true }
 edition = { workspace = true }
 
 [dependencies]
-serde = { workspace = true }
-serde_derive = { workspace = true }
+serde = { workspace = true, optional = true }
+serde_derive = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 solana-sdk-macro = { workspace = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 static_assertions = { workspace = true }
 
+[features]
+serde = ["dep:serde", "dep:serde_derive"]
+
 [package.metadata.docs.rs]
 targets = ["x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu"]
diff --git a/sdk/clock/src/lib.rs b/sdk/clock/src/lib.rs
index 0653e844e4c0ca..870265f9c18eb9 100644
--- a/sdk/clock/src/lib.rs
+++ b/sdk/clock/src/lib.rs
@@ -20,10 +20,9 @@
 //!
 //! [oracle]: https://docs.solanalabs.com/implemented-proposals/validator-timestamp-oracle
 
-use {
-    serde_derive::{Deserialize, Serialize},
-    solana_sdk_macro::CloneZeroed,
-};
+#[cfg(feature = "serde")]
+use serde_derive::{Deserialize, Serialize};
+use solana_sdk_macro::CloneZeroed;
 
 /// The default tick rate that the cluster attempts to achieve (160 per second).
 ///
@@ -175,7 +174,8 @@ pub type UnixTimestamp = i64;
 ///
 /// All members of `Clock` start from 0 upon network boot.
 #[repr(C)]
-#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug, CloneZeroed, Default, PartialEq, Eq)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(Serialize, Deserialize))]
+#[derive(Debug, CloneZeroed, Default, PartialEq, Eq)]
 pub struct Clock {
     /// The current `Slot`.
     pub slot: Slot,
diff --git a/sdk/program/Cargo.toml b/sdk/program/Cargo.toml
index e950550c93ec93..bc8b95757468ab 100644
--- a/sdk/program/Cargo.toml
+++ b/sdk/program/Cargo.toml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ serde_derive = { workspace = true }
 sha2 = { workspace = true }
 sha3 = { workspace = true }
 solana-atomic-u64 = { workspace = true }
-solana-clock = { workspace = true }
+solana-clock = { workspace = true, features = ["serde"] }
 solana-decode-error = { workspace = true }
 solana-frozen-abi = { workspace = true, optional = true }
 solana-frozen-abi-macro = { workspace = true, optional = true }