diff --git a/httpclient5-cache/pom.xml b/httpclient5-cache/pom.xml
index 8e1a202cf..e6f45f1a8 100644
--- a/httpclient5-cache/pom.xml
+++ b/httpclient5-cache/pom.xml
@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@
       <scope>test</scope>
     </dependency>
     <dependency>
-      <groupId>net.sf.ehcache</groupId>
-      <artifactId>ehcache-core</artifactId>
+      <groupId>org.ehcache.modules</groupId>
+      <artifactId>ehcache-api</artifactId>
       <scope>compile</scope>
       <optional>true</optional>
     </dependency>
diff --git a/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/CachedHttpResponseGenerator.java b/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/CachedHttpResponseGenerator.java
index 304add1f7..d55883789 100644
--- a/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/CachedHttpResponseGenerator.java
+++ b/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/CachedHttpResponseGenerator.java
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpVersion;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.http.message.BasicHeader;
 
 /**
- * Rebuilds an {@link HttpResponse} from a {@link net.sf.ehcache.CacheEntry}
+ * Rebuilds an {@link HttpResponse} from a {@link HttpCacheEntry}
  *
  * @since 4.1
  */
diff --git a/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/NoopCacheEntrySerializer.java b/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/NoopCacheEntrySerializer.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..76f17162a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/NoopCacheEntrySerializer.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.
+ * ====================================================================
+ *
+ * This software consists of voluntary contributions made by many
+ * individuals on behalf of the Apache Software Foundation.  For more
+ * information on the Apache Software Foundation, please see
+ * <http://www.apache.org/>.
+ *
+ */
+package org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.cache;
+
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cache.HttpCacheEntrySerializer;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cache.HttpCacheStorageEntry;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cache.ResourceIOException;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.annotation.Contract;
+import org.apache.hc.core5.annotation.ThreadingBehavior;
+
+/**
+ * @since 5.0
+ */
+@Contract(threading = ThreadingBehavior.IMMUTABLE)
+public class NoopCacheEntrySerializer implements HttpCacheEntrySerializer<HttpCacheStorageEntry> {
+
+    public static final NoopCacheEntrySerializer INSTANCE = new NoopCacheEntrySerializer();
+
+    @Override
+    public HttpCacheStorageEntry serialize(final HttpCacheStorageEntry cacheEntry) throws ResourceIOException {
+        return cacheEntry;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public HttpCacheStorageEntry deserialize(final HttpCacheStorageEntry cacheEntry) throws ResourceIOException {
+        return cacheEntry;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/ehcache/EhcacheHttpCacheStorage.java b/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/ehcache/EhcacheHttpCacheStorage.java
index 36cc4c269..c3d7a38a8 100644
--- a/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/ehcache/EhcacheHttpCacheStorage.java
+++ b/httpclient5-cache/src/main/java/org/apache/hc/client5/http/impl/cache/ehcache/EhcacheHttpCacheStorage.java
@@ -27,14 +27,14 @@
 package org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.cache.ehcache;
 
 import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cache.HttpCacheEntrySerializer;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cache.HttpCacheStorageEntry;
 import org.apache.hc.client5.http.cache.ResourceIOException;
-import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.cache.AbstractBinaryCacheStorage;
-import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.cache.CacheConfig;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.cache.AbstractSerializingCacheStorage;
 import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.cache.ByteArrayCacheEntrySerializer;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.cache.CacheConfig;
+import org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.cache.NoopCacheEntrySerializer;
 import org.apache.hc.core5.util.Args;
-
-import net.sf.ehcache.Ehcache;
-import net.sf.ehcache.Element;
+import org.ehcache.Cache;
 
 /**
  * <p>This class is a storage backend for cache entries that uses the
@@ -53,19 +53,30 @@ import net.sf.ehcache.Element;
  * itself.</p>
  * @since 4.1
  */
-public class EhcacheHttpCacheStorage extends AbstractBinaryCacheStorage<Element> {
-
-    private final Ehcache cache;
+public class EhcacheHttpCacheStorage<T> extends AbstractSerializingCacheStorage<T, T> {
 
     /**
-     * Constructs a storage backend using the provided Ehcache
-     * with default configuration options.
-     * @param cache where to store cached origin responses
+     * Creates cache that stores {@link HttpCacheStorageEntry}s without direct serialization.
+     *
+     * @since 5.0
      */
-    public EhcacheHttpCacheStorage(final Ehcache cache){
-        this(cache, CacheConfig.DEFAULT, ByteArrayCacheEntrySerializer.INSTANCE);
+    public static EhcacheHttpCacheStorage<HttpCacheStorageEntry> createObjectCache(
+            final Cache<String, HttpCacheStorageEntry> cache, final CacheConfig config) {
+        return new EhcacheHttpCacheStorage<>(cache, config, NoopCacheEntrySerializer.INSTANCE);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Creates cache that stores serialized {@link HttpCacheStorageEntry}s.
+     *
+     * @since 5.0
+     */
+    public static EhcacheHttpCacheStorage<byte[]> createSerializedCache(
+            final Cache<String, byte[]> cache, final CacheConfig config) {
+        return new EhcacheHttpCacheStorage<>(cache, config, ByteArrayCacheEntrySerializer.INSTANCE);
+    }
+
+    private final Cache<String, T> cache;
+
     /**
      * Constructs a storage backend using the provided Ehcache
      * with the given configuration options, but using an alternative
@@ -77,9 +88,9 @@ public class EhcacheHttpCacheStorage extends AbstractBinaryCacheStorage<Element>
      * @param serializer alternative serialization mechanism
      */
     public EhcacheHttpCacheStorage(
-            final Ehcache cache,
+            final Cache<String, T> cache,
             final CacheConfig config,
-            final HttpCacheEntrySerializer<byte[]> serializer) {
+            final HttpCacheEntrySerializer<T> serializer) {
         super((config != null ? config : CacheConfig.DEFAULT).getMaxUpdateRetries(), serializer);
         this.cache = Args.notNull(cache, "Ehcache");
     }
@@ -90,41 +101,29 @@ public class EhcacheHttpCacheStorage extends AbstractBinaryCacheStorage<Element>
     }
 
     @Override
-    protected void store(final String storageKey, final byte[] storageObject) throws ResourceIOException {
-        cache.put(new Element(storageKey, storageKey));
-    }
-
-    private byte[] castAsByteArray(final Object storageObject) throws ResourceIOException {
-        if (storageObject == null) {
-            return null;
-        }
-        if (storageObject instanceof byte[]) {
-            return (byte[]) storageObject;
-        } else {
-            throw new ResourceIOException("Unexpected cache content: " + storageObject.getClass());
-        }
+    protected void store(final String storageKey, final T storageObject) throws ResourceIOException {
+        cache.put(storageKey, storageObject);
     }
 
     @Override
-    protected byte[] restore(final String storageKey) throws ResourceIOException {
-        final Element element = cache.get(storageKey);
-        return element != null ? castAsByteArray(element.getObjectValue()) : null;
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    protected Element getForUpdateCAS(final String storageKey) throws ResourceIOException {
+    protected T restore(final String storageKey) throws ResourceIOException {
         return cache.get(storageKey);
     }
 
     @Override
-    protected byte[] getStorageObject(final Element element) throws ResourceIOException {
-        return castAsByteArray(element.getObjectValue());
+    protected T getForUpdateCAS(final String storageKey) throws ResourceIOException {
+        return cache.get(storageKey);
     }
 
     @Override
-    protected boolean updateCAS(final String storageKey, final Element element, final byte[] storageObject) throws ResourceIOException {
-        final Element newElement = new Element(storageKey, storageObject);
-        return cache.replace(element, newElement);
+    protected T getStorageObject(final T element) throws ResourceIOException {
+        return element;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected boolean updateCAS(
+            final String storageKey, final T oldStorageObject, final T storageObject) throws ResourceIOException {
+        return cache.replace(storageKey, oldStorageObject, storageObject);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/httpclient5-osgi/pom.xml b/httpclient5-osgi/pom.xml
index 2912a936c..54b33d99d 100644
--- a/httpclient5-osgi/pom.xml
+++ b/httpclient5-osgi/pom.xml
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@
                 org.osgi.service.cm,
                 org.apache.logging.log4j;version=${log4j.osgi.import.version},
                 org.apache.hc.core5.*;version=${httpcore.osgi.import.version},
-                net.sf.ehcache.*;resolution:=optional,
+                org.ehcache.*;resolution:=optional,
                 net.spy.memcached.*;resolution:=optional
             </Import-Package>
             <Bundle-Activator>org.apache.hc.client5.http.osgi.impl.HttpProxyConfigurationActivator</Bundle-Activator>
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 55161b402..dfbc3660e 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@
     <httpcore.version>5.0-alpha4</httpcore.version>
     <log4j.version>2.8.2</log4j.version>
     <commons-codec.version>1.10</commons-codec.version>
-    <ehcache.version>2.6.11</ehcache.version>
+    <ehcache.version>3.4.0</ehcache.version>
     <memcached.version>2.12.0</memcached.version>
     <slf4j.version>1.7.13</slf4j.version>
     <junit.version>4.12</junit.version>
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@
         <version>${commons-codec.version}</version>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>
-        <groupId>net.sf.ehcache</groupId>
-        <artifactId>ehcache-core</artifactId>
+        <groupId>org.ehcache.modules</groupId>
+        <artifactId>ehcache-api</artifactId>
         <version>${ehcache.version}</version>
       </dependency>
       <dependency>