diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index d8cfc14b4..dfdeebb74 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -282,7 +282,11 @@ lazy val mimaSettings = Seq(
       ProblemFilters.exclude[ReversedMissingMethodProblem]("fs2.kafka.KafkaProducerConnection.metrics"),
 
       // package-private
-      ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("fs2.kafka.KafkaProducer.from")
+      ProblemFilters.exclude[DirectMissingMethodProblem]("fs2.kafka.KafkaProducer.from"),
+
+      // sealed
+      ProblemFilters.exclude[ReversedMissingMethodProblem]("fs2.kafka.ConsumerSettings.withDeserializers"),
+      ProblemFilters.exclude[ReversedMissingMethodProblem]("fs2.kafka.ProducerSettings.withSerializers")
     )
     // format: on
   }
diff --git a/modules/core/src/main/scala/fs2/kafka/ConsumerSettings.scala b/modules/core/src/main/scala/fs2/kafka/ConsumerSettings.scala
index 6e1582f83..c9e0411c3 100644
--- a/modules/core/src/main/scala/fs2/kafka/ConsumerSettings.scala
+++ b/modules/core/src/main/scala/fs2/kafka/ConsumerSettings.scala
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 package fs2.kafka
 
+import cats.effect.Sync
 import cats.{Applicative, Show}
 import fs2.kafka.security.KafkaCredentialStore
 import org.apache.kafka.clients.consumer.ConsumerConfig
@@ -47,6 +48,14 @@ sealed abstract class ConsumerSettings[F[_], K, V] {
     */
   def valueDeserializer: F[Deserializer[F, V]]
 
+  /** Creates a new `ConsumerSettings` instance that replaces the serializers with those provided.
+    * Note that this will remove any custom `recordMetadata` configuration.
+    **/
+  def withDeserializers[K0, V0](
+    keyDeserializer: F[Deserializer[F, K0]],
+    valueDeserializer: F[Deserializer[F, V0]]
+  ): ConsumerSettings[F, K0, V0]
+
   /**
     * A custom `ExecutionContext` to use for blocking Kafka operations. If not
     * provided, a default single-threaded `ExecutionContext` will be created
@@ -360,6 +369,8 @@ sealed abstract class ConsumerSettings[F[_], K, V] {
 
   /**
     * Creates a new [[ConsumerSettings]] with the specified [[recordMetadata]].
+    * Note that replacing the serializers via `withSerializers` will reset
+    * this to the default.
     */
   def withRecordMetadata(recordMetadata: ConsumerRecord[K, V] => String): ConsumerSettings[F, K, V]
 
@@ -527,6 +538,16 @@ object ConsumerSettings {
 
     override def toString: String =
       s"ConsumerSettings(closeTimeout = $closeTimeout, commitTimeout = $commitTimeout, pollInterval = $pollInterval, pollTimeout = $pollTimeout, commitRecovery = $commitRecovery)"
+
+    override def withDeserializers[K0, V0](
+      keyDeserializer: F[Deserializer[F, K0]],
+      valueDeserializer: F[Deserializer[F, V0]]
+    ): ConsumerSettings[F, K0, V0] =
+      copy(
+        keyDeserializer = keyDeserializer,
+        valueDeserializer = valueDeserializer,
+        recordMetadata = _ => OffsetFetchResponse.NO_METADATA
+      )
   }
 
   private[this] def create[F[_], K, V](
@@ -587,6 +608,17 @@ object ConsumerSettings {
       valueDeserializer = valueDeserializer.forValue
     )
 
+  /**
+    * Create a `ConsumerSettings` instance using placeholder deserializers that return unit.
+    * These can be subsequently replaced using `withDeserializers`, allowing configuration of
+    * deserializers to be decoupled from other configuration.
+    */
+  def unit[F[_]](implicit F: Sync[F]): ConsumerSettings[F, Unit, Unit] =
+    create(
+      keyDeserializer = F.pure(Deserializer.unit),
+      valueDeserializer = F.pure(Deserializer.unit)
+    )
+
   implicit def consumerSettingsShow[F[_], K, V]: Show[ConsumerSettings[F, K, V]] =
     Show.fromToString
 }
diff --git a/modules/core/src/main/scala/fs2/kafka/ProducerSettings.scala b/modules/core/src/main/scala/fs2/kafka/ProducerSettings.scala
index fd7e30b14..2ff5843e6 100644
--- a/modules/core/src/main/scala/fs2/kafka/ProducerSettings.scala
+++ b/modules/core/src/main/scala/fs2/kafka/ProducerSettings.scala
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 package fs2.kafka
 
+import cats.effect.Sync
 import cats.{Applicative, Show}
 import fs2.kafka.security.KafkaCredentialStore
 import org.apache.kafka.clients.producer.ProducerConfig
@@ -38,6 +39,14 @@ sealed abstract class ProducerSettings[F[_], K, V] {
     */
   def valueSerializer: F[Serializer[F, V]]
 
+  /**
+    * Replace the serializers with those provided in the arguments.
+    */
+  def withSerializers[K1, V1](
+    keySerializer: F[Serializer[F, K1]],
+    valueSerializer: F[Serializer[F, V1]]
+  ): ProducerSettings[F, K1, V1]
+
   /**
     * A custom [[ExecutionContext]] to use for blocking Kafka operations.
     * If not provided, the default blocking ExecutionContext provided by
@@ -309,6 +318,12 @@ object ProducerSettings {
 
     override def toString: String =
       s"ProducerSettings(closeTimeout = $closeTimeout)"
+
+    override def withSerializers[K1, V1](
+      keySerializer: F[Serializer[F, K1]],
+      valueSerializer: F[Serializer[F, V1]]
+    ): ProducerSettings[F, K1, V1] =
+      copy(keySerializer = keySerializer, valueSerializer = valueSerializer)
   }
 
   private[this] def create[F[_], K, V](
@@ -357,10 +372,20 @@ object ProducerSettings {
     implicit keySerializer: RecordSerializer[F, K],
     valueSerializer: RecordSerializer[F, V]
   ): ProducerSettings[F, K, V] =
-    create(
-      keySerializer = keySerializer.forKey,
-      valueSerializer = valueSerializer.forValue
+    create(keySerializer = keySerializer.forKey, valueSerializer = valueSerializer.forValue)
+
+  /**
+    * Create a `ProducerSettings` instance using placeholder serializers that serialize nothing.
+    * These can be subsequently replaced using `withSerializers`, allowing configuration of
+    * serializers to be decoupled from other configuration.
+    */
+  def nothing[F[_]](implicit F: Sync[F]): ProducerSettings[F, Nothing, Nothing] = {
+    val nothingSerializer = F.pure(Serializer.fail[F, Nothing](new AssertionError("impossible")))
+    create[F, Nothing, Nothing](
+      keySerializer = nothingSerializer,
+      valueSerializer = nothingSerializer
     )
+  }
 
   implicit def producerSettingsShow[F[_], K, V]: Show[ProducerSettings[F, K, V]] =
     Show.fromToString