diff --git a/app/api_topologies_test.go b/app/api_topologies_test.go
index c5dc75fc9..09e25e350 100644
--- a/app/api_topologies_test.go
+++ b/app/api_topologies_test.go
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ func TestAPITopologyAddsKubernetes(t *testing.T) {
 	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
 	encoder := codec.NewEncoder(buf, &codec.MsgpackHandle{})
 	if err := encoder.Encode(rpt); err != nil {
-		t.Fatalf("GOB encoding error: %s", err)
+		t.Fatalf("Msgpack encoding error: %s", err)
 	}
 	checkRequest(t, ts, "POST", "/api/report", buf.Bytes())
 
diff --git a/common/xfer/plugin_spec.go b/common/xfer/plugin_spec.go
index 45ff6961c..9bf1aedb0 100644
--- a/common/xfer/plugin_spec.go
+++ b/common/xfer/plugin_spec.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package xfer
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/gob"
 	"fmt"
 	"sort"
 
@@ -209,23 +208,6 @@ func (*PluginSpecs) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 	panic("UnmarshalJSON shouldn't be used, use CodecDecodeSelf instead")
 }
 
-// GobEncode implements gob.Marshaller
-func (n PluginSpecs) GobEncode() ([]byte, error) {
-	buf := bytes.Buffer{}
-	err := gob.NewEncoder(&buf).Encode(n.toIntermediate())
-	return buf.Bytes(), err
-}
-
-// GobDecode implements gob.Unmarshaller
-func (n *PluginSpecs) GobDecode(input []byte) error {
-	in := []PluginSpec{}
-	if err := gob.NewDecoder(bytes.NewBuffer(input)).Decode(&in); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	*n = PluginSpecs{}.fromIntermediate(in)
-	return nil
-}
-
 // PluginSpecsByID implements sort.Interface, so we can sort the specs by the
 // ID field.
 type PluginSpecsByID []PluginSpec
diff --git a/extras/generate_latest_map b/extras/generate_latest_map
index 05051c3e8..e73891925 100755
--- a/extras/generate_latest_map
+++ b/extras/generate_latest_map
@@ -155,23 +155,11 @@ function generate_latest_map() {
         })
     }
 
-    func (m ${latest_map_type}) toIntermediate() map[string]${entry_type} {
-        intermediate := make(map[string]${entry_type}, m.Size())
-        if m.Map != nil {
-	        m.Map.ForEach(func(key string, val interface{}) {
-		        intermediate[key] = *val.(*${entry_type})
-	        })
-        }
-        return intermediate
-    }
-
     // CodecEncodeSelf implements codec.Selfer.
     func (m *${latest_map_type}) CodecEncodeSelf(encoder *codec.Encoder) {
-        if m.Map != nil {
-	        encoder.Encode(m.toIntermediate())
-        } else {
-	        encoder.Encode(nil)
-        }
+        mapWrite(m.Map, encoder, func(encoder *codec.Encoder, val interface{}) {
+            val.(*${entry_type}).CodecEncodeSelf(encoder)
+        })
     }
 
     // CodecDecodeSelf implements codec.Selfer.
diff --git a/report/counters.go b/report/counters.go
index 82d2e92ef..e5b7bcf3f 100644
--- a/report/counters.go
+++ b/report/counters.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package report
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/gob"
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"sort"
@@ -137,14 +136,6 @@ func (c Counters) DeepEqual(d Counters) bool {
 	return equal
 }
 
-func (c Counters) toIntermediate() map[string]int {
-	intermediate := map[string]int{}
-	c.ForEach(func(key string, val int) {
-		intermediate[key] = val
-	})
-	return intermediate
-}
-
 func (c Counters) fromIntermediate(in map[string]int) Counters {
 	out := ps.NewMap()
 	for k, v := range in {
@@ -155,7 +146,10 @@ func (c Counters) fromIntermediate(in map[string]int) Counters {
 
 // CodecEncodeSelf implements codec.Selfer
 func (c *Counters) CodecEncodeSelf(encoder *codec.Encoder) {
-	encoder.Encode(c.toIntermediate())
+	mapWrite(c.psMap, encoder, func(encoder *codec.Encoder, val interface{}) {
+		i := val.(int)
+		encoder.Encode(i)
+	})
 }
 
 // CodecDecodeSelf implements codec.Selfer
@@ -179,20 +173,3 @@ func (Counters) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 func (*Counters) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 	panic("UnmarshalJSON shouldn't be used, use CodecDecodeSelf instead")
 }
-
-// GobEncode implements gob.Marshaller
-func (c Counters) GobEncode() ([]byte, error) {
-	buf := bytes.Buffer{}
-	err := gob.NewEncoder(&buf).Encode(c.toIntermediate())
-	return buf.Bytes(), err
-}
-
-// GobDecode implements gob.Unmarshaller
-func (c *Counters) GobDecode(input []byte) error {
-	in := map[string]int{}
-	if err := gob.NewDecoder(bytes.NewBuffer(input)).Decode(&in); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	*c = Counters{}.fromIntermediate(in)
-	return nil
-}
diff --git a/report/counters_internal_test.go b/report/counters_internal_test.go
index 237a96300..731a85a68 100644
--- a/report/counters_internal_test.go
+++ b/report/counters_internal_test.go
@@ -101,18 +101,6 @@ func TestCountersEncoding(t *testing.T) {
 		Add("foo", 1).
 		Add("bar", 2)
 
-	{
-		gobs, err := want.GobEncode()
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
-		have := EmptyCounters
-		have.GobDecode(gobs)
-		if !reflect.DeepEqual(want, have) {
-			t.Error(test.Diff(want, have))
-		}
-	}
-
 	{
 
 		for _, h := range []codec.Handle{
diff --git a/report/edge_metadatas.go b/report/edge_metadatas.go
index 13b0d40c0..2927b6708 100644
--- a/report/edge_metadatas.go
+++ b/report/edge_metadatas.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package report
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/gob"
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"sort"
@@ -148,31 +147,12 @@ func (c EdgeMetadatas) DeepEqual(d EdgeMetadatas) bool {
 	return equal
 }
 
-func (c EdgeMetadatas) toIntermediate() map[string]EdgeMetadata {
-	intermediate := map[string]EdgeMetadata{}
-	if c.psMap != nil {
-		c.psMap.ForEach(func(key string, val interface{}) {
-			intermediate[key] = val.(EdgeMetadata)
-		})
-	}
-	return intermediate
-}
-
-func (c EdgeMetadatas) fromIntermediate(in map[string]EdgeMetadata) EdgeMetadatas {
-	out := ps.NewMap()
-	for k, v := range in {
-		out = out.Set(k, v)
-	}
-	return EdgeMetadatas{out}
-}
-
 // CodecEncodeSelf implements codec.Selfer
 func (c *EdgeMetadatas) CodecEncodeSelf(encoder *codec.Encoder) {
-	if c.psMap != nil {
-		encoder.Encode(c.toIntermediate())
-	} else {
-		encoder.Encode(nil)
-	}
+	mapWrite(c.psMap, encoder, func(encoder *codec.Encoder, val interface{}) {
+		e := val.(EdgeMetadata)
+		(&e).CodecEncodeSelf(encoder)
+	})
 }
 
 // CodecDecodeSelf implements codec.Selfer
@@ -197,23 +177,6 @@ func (*EdgeMetadatas) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 	panic("UnmarshalJSON shouldn't be used, use CodecDecodeSelf instead")
 }
 
-// GobEncode implements gob.Marshaller
-func (c EdgeMetadatas) GobEncode() ([]byte, error) {
-	buf := bytes.Buffer{}
-	err := gob.NewEncoder(&buf).Encode(c.toIntermediate())
-	return buf.Bytes(), err
-}
-
-// GobDecode implements gob.Unmarshaller
-func (c *EdgeMetadatas) GobDecode(input []byte) error {
-	in := map[string]EdgeMetadata{}
-	if err := gob.NewDecoder(bytes.NewBuffer(input)).Decode(&in); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	*c = EdgeMetadatas{}.fromIntermediate(in)
-	return nil
-}
-
 // EdgeMetadata describes a superset of the metadata that probes can possibly
 // collect about a directed edge between two nodes in any topology.
 type EdgeMetadata struct {
diff --git a/report/edge_metadatas_internal_test.go b/report/edge_metadatas_internal_test.go
index 4a63a4643..b9e36d6a3 100644
--- a/report/edge_metadatas_internal_test.go
+++ b/report/edge_metadatas_internal_test.go
@@ -214,18 +214,6 @@ func TestEdgeMetadatasEncoding(t *testing.T) {
 			EgressPacketCount: newu64(3),
 		})
 
-	{
-		gobs, err := want.GobEncode()
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
-		have := EmptyEdgeMetadatas
-		have.GobDecode(gobs)
-		if !reflect.DeepEqual(want, have) {
-			t.Error(test.Diff(want, have))
-		}
-	}
-
 	{
 		for _, h := range []codec.Handle{
 			codec.Handle(&codec.MsgpackHandle{}),
@@ -247,18 +235,6 @@ func TestEdgeMetadatasEncoding(t *testing.T) {
 func TestEdgeMetadatasEncodingNil(t *testing.T) {
 	want := EdgeMetadatas{}
 
-	{
-		gobs, err := want.GobEncode()
-		if err != nil {
-			t.Fatal(err)
-		}
-		have := EmptyEdgeMetadatas
-		have.GobDecode(gobs)
-		if have.psMap == nil {
-			t.Error("needed to get back a non-nil psMap for EdgeMetadata")
-		}
-	}
-
 	{
 
 		for _, h := range []codec.Handle{
diff --git a/report/latest_map_generated.go b/report/latest_map_generated.go
index 7192cd7d6..c17b318e6 100644
--- a/report/latest_map_generated.go
+++ b/report/latest_map_generated.go
@@ -122,23 +122,11 @@ func (m StringLatestMap) DeepEqual(n StringLatestMap) bool {
 	})
 }
 
-func (m StringLatestMap) toIntermediate() map[string]stringLatestEntry {
-	intermediate := make(map[string]stringLatestEntry, m.Size())
-	if m.Map != nil {
-		m.Map.ForEach(func(key string, val interface{}) {
-			intermediate[key] = *val.(*stringLatestEntry)
-		})
-	}
-	return intermediate
-}
-
 // CodecEncodeSelf implements codec.Selfer.
 func (m *StringLatestMap) CodecEncodeSelf(encoder *codec.Encoder) {
-	if m.Map != nil {
-		encoder.Encode(m.toIntermediate())
-	} else {
-		encoder.Encode(nil)
-	}
+	mapWrite(m.Map, encoder, func(encoder *codec.Encoder, val interface{}) {
+		val.(*stringLatestEntry).CodecEncodeSelf(encoder)
+	})
 }
 
 // CodecDecodeSelf implements codec.Selfer.
@@ -274,23 +262,11 @@ func (m NodeControlDataLatestMap) DeepEqual(n NodeControlDataLatestMap) bool {
 	})
 }
 
-func (m NodeControlDataLatestMap) toIntermediate() map[string]nodeControlDataLatestEntry {
-	intermediate := make(map[string]nodeControlDataLatestEntry, m.Size())
-	if m.Map != nil {
-		m.Map.ForEach(func(key string, val interface{}) {
-			intermediate[key] = *val.(*nodeControlDataLatestEntry)
-		})
-	}
-	return intermediate
-}
-
 // CodecEncodeSelf implements codec.Selfer.
 func (m *NodeControlDataLatestMap) CodecEncodeSelf(encoder *codec.Encoder) {
-	if m.Map != nil {
-		encoder.Encode(m.toIntermediate())
-	} else {
-		encoder.Encode(nil)
-	}
+	mapWrite(m.Map, encoder, func(encoder *codec.Encoder, val interface{}) {
+		val.(*nodeControlDataLatestEntry).CodecEncodeSelf(encoder)
+	})
 }
 
 // CodecDecodeSelf implements codec.Selfer.
diff --git a/report/map_helpers.go b/report/map_helpers.go
index d88175833..f42978af4 100644
--- a/report/map_helpers.go
+++ b/report/map_helpers.go
@@ -85,9 +85,10 @@ const (
 	containerMapKey   = 2
 	containerMapValue = 3
 	containerMapEnd   = 4
+	// from https://github.com/ugorji/go/blob/master/codec/helper.go#L152
+	cUTF8 = 2
 )
 
-// CodecDecodeSelf implements codec.Selfer.
 // This implementation does not use the intermediate form as that was a
 // performance issue; skipping it saved almost 10% CPU.  Note this means
 // we are using undocumented, internal APIs, which could break in the future.
@@ -118,3 +119,21 @@ func mapRead(decoder *codec.Decoder, decodeValue func(isNil bool) interface{}) p
 	z.DecSendContainerState(containerMapEnd)
 	return out
 }
+
+// Inverse of mapRead, done for performance. Same comments about
+// undocumented internal APIs apply.
+func mapWrite(m ps.Map, encoder *codec.Encoder, encodeValue func(*codec.Encoder, interface{})) {
+	z, r := codec.GenHelperEncoder(encoder)
+	if m == nil {
+		r.EncodeNil()
+		return
+	}
+	r.EncodeMapStart(m.Size())
+	m.ForEach(func(key string, val interface{}) {
+		z.EncSendContainerState(containerMapKey)
+		r.EncodeString(cUTF8, key)
+		z.EncSendContainerState(containerMapValue)
+		encodeValue(encoder, val)
+	})
+	z.EncSendContainerState(containerMapEnd)
+}
diff --git a/report/marshal.go b/report/marshal.go
index b21e01a17..f5e2e776a 100644
--- a/report/marshal.go
+++ b/report/marshal.go
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ func (s *dummySelfer) CodecDecodeSelf(decoder *codec.Decoder) {
 	panic("This shouldn't happen: perhaps something has gone wrong in code generation?")
 }
 
+func (s *dummySelfer) CodecEncodeSelf(encoder *codec.Encoder) {
+	panic("This shouldn't happen: perhaps something has gone wrong in code generation?")
+}
+
 // WriteBinary writes a Report as a gzipped msgpack.
 func (rep Report) WriteBinary(w io.Writer, compressionLevel int) error {
 	gzwriter, err := gzip.NewWriterLevel(w, compressionLevel)
diff --git a/report/node_set.go b/report/node_set.go
index c0e5c7168..8c73c2099 100644
--- a/report/node_set.go
+++ b/report/node_set.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package report
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/gob"
 	"fmt"
 	"sort"
 
@@ -206,20 +205,3 @@ func (NodeSet) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 func (*NodeSet) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 	panic("UnmarshalJSON shouldn't be used, use CodecDecodeSelf instead")
 }
-
-// GobEncode implements gob.Marshaller
-func (n NodeSet) GobEncode() ([]byte, error) {
-	buf := bytes.Buffer{}
-	err := gob.NewEncoder(&buf).Encode(n.toIntermediate())
-	return buf.Bytes(), err
-}
-
-// GobDecode implements gob.Unmarshaller
-func (n *NodeSet) GobDecode(input []byte) error {
-	in := []Node{}
-	if err := gob.NewDecoder(bytes.NewBuffer(input)).Decode(&in); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	*n = NodeSet{}.fromIntermediate(in)
-	return nil
-}
diff --git a/report/sets.go b/report/sets.go
index 821d6a223..be1c78b7c 100644
--- a/report/sets.go
+++ b/report/sets.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package report
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/gob"
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"sort"
@@ -148,31 +147,11 @@ func (s Sets) DeepEqual(t Sets) bool {
 	return equal
 }
 
-func (s Sets) toIntermediate() map[string]StringSet {
-	intermediate := map[string]StringSet{}
-	if s.psMap != nil {
-		s.psMap.ForEach(func(key string, val interface{}) {
-			intermediate[key] = val.(StringSet)
-		})
-	}
-	return intermediate
-}
-
-func (s Sets) fromIntermediate(in map[string]StringSet) Sets {
-	out := ps.NewMap()
-	for k, v := range in {
-		out = out.Set(k, v)
-	}
-	return Sets{out}
-}
-
 // CodecEncodeSelf implements codec.Selfer
 func (s *Sets) CodecEncodeSelf(encoder *codec.Encoder) {
-	if s.psMap != nil {
-		encoder.Encode(s.toIntermediate())
-	} else {
-		encoder.Encode(nil)
-	}
+	mapWrite(s.psMap, encoder, func(encoder *codec.Encoder, val interface{}) {
+		encoder.Encode(val.(StringSet))
+	})
 }
 
 // CodecDecodeSelf implements codec.Selfer
@@ -196,20 +175,3 @@ func (Sets) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 func (*Sets) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 	panic("UnmarshalJSON shouldn't be used, use CodecDecodeSelf instead")
 }
-
-// GobEncode implements gob.Marshaller
-func (s Sets) GobEncode() ([]byte, error) {
-	buf := bytes.Buffer{}
-	err := gob.NewEncoder(&buf).Encode(s.toIntermediate())
-	return buf.Bytes(), err
-}
-
-// GobDecode implements gob.Unmarshaller
-func (s *Sets) GobDecode(input []byte) error {
-	in := map[string]StringSet{}
-	if err := gob.NewDecoder(bytes.NewBuffer(input)).Decode(&in); err != nil {
-		return err
-	}
-	*s = Sets{}.fromIntermediate(in)
-	return nil
-}