diff --git a/src/secret_key.rs b/src/secret_key.rs
index b60bc1f..b293b3a 100644
--- a/src/secret_key.rs
+++ b/src/secret_key.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,16 @@
-use std::marker::PhantomData;
+use std::{
+    convert::{TryFrom, TryInto},
+    marker::PhantomData,
+};
 
-use crate::{PublicKey, Randomizer, Scalar, SigType, Signature, SpendAuth};
+use crate::{Error, PublicKey, Randomizer, Scalar, SigType, Signature, SpendAuth};
 
 use rand_core::{CryptoRng, RngCore};
 
 /// A RedJubJub secret key.
 #[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug)]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize))]
-#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", serde(from = "SerdeHelper"))]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", serde(try_from = "SerdeHelper"))]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", serde(into = "SerdeHelper"))]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", serde(bound = "T: SigType"))]
 pub struct SecretKey<T: SigType> {
@@ -27,26 +30,30 @@ impl<T: SigType> From<SecretKey<T>> for [u8; 32] {
     }
 }
 
-impl<T: SigType> From<[u8; 32]> for SecretKey<T> {
-    fn from(bytes: [u8; 32]) -> Self {
-        let sk = {
-            // XXX-jubjub: would be nice to unconditionally deser
-            // This incantation ensures deserialization is infallible.
-            let mut wide = [0; 64];
-            wide[0..32].copy_from_slice(&bytes);
-            Scalar::from_bytes_wide(&wide)
-        };
-        let pk = PublicKey::from_secret(&sk);
-        SecretKey { sk, pk }
+impl<T: SigType> TryFrom<[u8; 32]> for SecretKey<T> {
+    type Error = Error;
+
+    fn try_from(bytes: [u8; 32]) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        // XXX-jubjub: this should not use CtOption
+        let maybe_sk = Scalar::from_bytes(&bytes);
+        if maybe_sk.is_some().into() {
+            let sk = maybe_sk.unwrap();
+            let pk = PublicKey::from_secret(&sk);
+            Ok(SecretKey { sk, pk })
+        } else {
+            Err(Error::MalformedSecretKey)
+        }
     }
 }
 
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "serde", derive(serde::Serialize, serde::Deserialize))]
 struct SerdeHelper([u8; 32]);
 
-impl<T: SigType> From<SerdeHelper> for SecretKey<T> {
-    fn from(helper: SerdeHelper) -> Self {
-        helper.0.into()
+impl<T: SigType> TryFrom<SerdeHelper> for SecretKey<T> {
+    type Error = Error;
+
+    fn try_from(helper: SerdeHelper) -> Result<Self, Self::Error> {
+        helper.0.try_into()
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/bincode.rs b/tests/bincode.rs
index dedac21..834a4a6 100644
--- a/tests/bincode.rs
+++ b/tests/bincode.rs
@@ -9,26 +9,30 @@ proptest! {
     fn secretkey_serialization(
         bytes in prop::array::uniform32(any::<u8>()),
     ) {
-        let sk_from = SecretKey::<SpendAuth>::from(bytes);
-        let sk_bincode: SecretKey::<SpendAuth>
-            = bincode::deserialize(&bytes[..]).unwrap();
+        let sk_result_from = SecretKey::<SpendAuth>::try_from(bytes);
+        let sk_result_bincode: Result<SecretKey::<SpendAuth>, _>
+            = bincode::deserialize(&bytes[..]);
 
-        // Check 1: both decoding methods should have the same public key
-        let pk_bytes_from = PublicKeyBytes::from(PublicKey::from(&sk_from));
-        let pk_bytes_bincode = PublicKeyBytes::from(PublicKey::from(&sk_bincode));
-        assert_eq!(pk_bytes_from, pk_bytes_bincode);
+        // Check 1: both decoding methods should agree
+        match (sk_result_from, sk_result_bincode) {
+            // Both agree on success
+            (Ok(sk_from), Ok(sk_bincode)) => {
+                let pk_bytes_from = PublicKeyBytes::from(PublicKey::from(&sk_from));
+                let pk_bytes_bincode = PublicKeyBytes::from(PublicKey::from(&sk_bincode));
+                assert_eq!(pk_bytes_from, pk_bytes_bincode);
 
-        // The below tests fail because we do not require canonically-encoded secret keys.
-        /*
+                // Check 2: bincode encoding should match original bytes.
+                let bytes_bincode = bincode::serialize(&sk_from).unwrap();
+                assert_eq!(&bytes[..], &bytes_bincode[..]);
 
-        // Check 2: bincode encoding should match original bytes.
-        let bytes_bincode = bincode::serialize(&sk_from).unwrap();
-        assert_eq!(&bytes[..], &bytes_bincode[..]);
-
-        // Check 3: From encoding should match original bytes.
-        let bytes_from: [u8; 32] = sk_bincode.into();
-        assert_eq!(&bytes[..], &bytes_from[..]);
-        */
+                // Check 3: From encoding should match original bytes.
+                let bytes_from: [u8; 32] = sk_bincode.into();
+                assert_eq!(&bytes[..], &bytes_from[..]);
+            }
+            // Both agree on failure
+            (Err(_), Err(_)) => {},
+            _ => panic!("bincode and try_from do not agree"),
+        }
     }
 
     #[test]