diff --git a/lib/serialization/ObjectMiddleware.js b/lib/serialization/ObjectMiddleware.js
index 5e3af8aa5..d9b850e66 100644
--- a/lib/serialization/ObjectMiddleware.js
+++ b/lib/serialization/ObjectMiddleware.js
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ class ObjectMiddleware extends SerializerMiddleware {
 		};
 		let currentPosTypeLookup = 0;
 		const objectTypeLookup = new Map();
+		const cycleStack = new Set();
 		const process = item => {
 			// check if we can emit a reference
 			const ref = referenceable.get(item);
@@ -176,6 +177,14 @@ class ObjectMiddleware extends SerializerMiddleware {
 				return;
 			}
 			if (typeof item === "object" && item !== null) {
+				if (cycleStack.has(item)) {
+					throw new Error(
+						`Circular references can't be serialized (${Array.from(cycleStack)
+							.concat([item])
+							.map(obj => obj.constructor.name)
+							.join(" -> ")})`
+					);
+				}
 				const { request, name, serializer } = ObjectMiddleware.getSerializerFor(
 					item
 				);
@@ -188,11 +197,13 @@ class ObjectMiddleware extends SerializerMiddleware {
 				} else {
 					result.push(ESCAPE, currentPosTypeLookup - lastIndex);
 				}
+				cycleStack.add(item);
 				serializer.serialize(item, {
 					write(value) {
 						process(value);
 					}
 				});
+				cycleStack.delete(item);
 				result.push(ESCAPE, ESCAPE_END_OBJECT);
 				addReferenceable(item);
 			} else if (typeof item === "string") {