diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/exception/MathRuntimeException.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/exception/MathRuntimeException.java
index fb6bc904d..841fcd281 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/exception/MathRuntimeException.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/exception/MathRuntimeException.java
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import java.util.Locale;
 
 import org.apache.commons.math.exception.util.ArgUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.math.exception.util.Localizable;
-import org.apache.commons.math.util.Pair;
+import org.apache.commons.math.util.SerializablePair;
 
 /**
  * This class is the base class for all exceptions.
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ public class MathRuntimeException extends RuntimeException
     /**
      * Various informations that enrich the informative message.
      */
-    private final List<Pair<Localizable, Object[]>> messages
-        = new ArrayList<Pair<Localizable, Object[]>>();
+    private final List<SerializablePair<Localizable, Object[]>> messages
+        = new ArrayList<SerializablePair<Localizable, Object[]>>();
     /**
      * Arbitrary context information.
      */
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ public class MathRuntimeException extends RuntimeException
     /** {@inheritDoc} */
     public void addMessage(Localizable pattern,
                            Object ... arguments) {
-        messages.add(new Pair<Localizable, Object[]>(pattern, ArgUtils.flatten(arguments)));
+        messages.add(new SerializablePair<Localizable, Object[]>(pattern,
+                                                                 ArgUtils.flatten(arguments)));
     }
 
     /** {@inheritDoc} */
@@ -129,8 +130,9 @@ public class MathRuntimeException extends RuntimeException
         final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
         int count = 0;
         final int len = messages.size();
-        for (Pair<Localizable, Object[]> pair : messages) {
-            final MessageFormat fmt = new MessageFormat(pair.getKey().getLocalizedString(locale), locale);
+        for (SerializablePair<Localizable, Object[]> pair : messages) {
+            final MessageFormat fmt = new MessageFormat(pair.getKey().getLocalizedString(locale),
+                                                        locale);
             sb.append(fmt.format(pair.getValue()));
             if (++count < len) {
                 // Add a separator if there are other messages.
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/util/Pair.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/util/Pair.java
index 8b3cff591..c5d79abd3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/util/Pair.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/util/Pair.java
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ public class Pair<K, V> {
      *
      * @param entry Entry to copy.
      */
-    Pair(Pair<? extends K, ? extends V> entry) {
+    public Pair(Pair<? extends K, ? extends V> entry) {
         key = entry.getKey();
         value = entry.getValue();
     }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/util/SerializablePair.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/util/SerializablePair.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..512f1035f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math/util/SerializablePair.java
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.apache.commons.math.util;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+/**
+ * Generic pair.
+ * Immutable class.
+ *
+ * @param <K> Key type.
+ * @param <V> Value type.
+ *
+ * @version $Revision$ $Date$
+ * @since 3.0
+ */
+public class SerializablePair<K extends Serializable, V extends Serializable>
+    extends Pair<K, V>
+    implements Serializable {
+    /**
+     * Create an entry representing a mapping from the specified key to the
+     * specified value.
+     *
+     * @param k Key.
+     * @param v Value.
+     */
+    public SerializablePair(K k, V v) {    
+        super(k, v);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Create an entry representing the same mapping as the specified entry.
+     *
+     * @param entry Entry to copy.
+     */
+    public SerializablePair(SerializablePair<? extends K, ? extends V> entry) {
+        super(entry);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/math/ode/sampling/DummyStepInterpolatorTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/math/ode/sampling/DummyStepInterpolatorTest.java
index d9d53fd6f..65605b957 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/math/ode/sampling/DummyStepInterpolatorTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/math/ode/sampling/DummyStepInterpolatorTest.java
@@ -123,11 +123,8 @@ public class DummyStepInterpolatorTest {
         fail("an exception should have been thrown");
     } catch (IOException ioe) {
         // expected behavior
-        // XXX Why was the message supposed to be empty?
-        // With the current code it is "org.apache.commons.math.util.Pair".
-        // assertEquals(0, ioe.getMessage().length());
+        assertEquals(0, ioe.getMessage().length());
     }
-
   }
 
   private static class BadStepInterpolator extends DummyStepInterpolator {
@@ -139,7 +136,7 @@ public class DummyStepInterpolatorTest {
       }
       @Override
       protected void doFinalize() throws MathUserException {
-          throw new MathUserException();
+          throw new MathUserException(LocalizedFormats.SIMPLE_MESSAGE, "");
       }
   }
 }