diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 42bb54f5861..c0d254a14f3 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -62,6 +62,8 @@ Optimizations
  1. SOLR-374: Use IndexReader.reopen to save resources by re-using parts of the
     index that haven't changed. (Mark Miller via yonik)
 
+ 2. SOLR-808: Write string keys in Maps as extern strings in the javabin format. (Noble Paul via shalin)
+
 
 Bug Fixes
 ----------------------
diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/solr/common/util/NamedListCodec.java b/src/java/org/apache/solr/common/util/NamedListCodec.java
index b2e0541b2d1..df3f6e03138 100755
--- a/src/java/org/apache/solr/common/util/NamedListCodec.java
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/solr/common/util/NamedListCodec.java
@@ -495,7 +495,12 @@ public class NamedListCodec {
           throws IOException {
     writeTag(MAP, val.size());
     for (Map.Entry entry : (Set<Map.Entry>) val.entrySet()) {
-      writeVal(entry.getKey());
+      Object key = entry.getKey();
+      if (key instanceof String) {
+        writeExternString((String) key);
+      } else {
+        writeVal(key);
+      }
       writeVal(entry.getValue());
     }
   }