diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 9d183f022..a475aa0af 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2832,6 +2832,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "miniz_oxide",
  "once_cell",
  "pdf-writer",
+ "serde",
  "subsetter",
  "svg2pdf",
  "ttf-parser",
diff --git a/crates/typst-cli/src/args.rs b/crates/typst-cli/src/args.rs
index 6505994bd..65259ab7a 100644
--- a/crates/typst-cli/src/args.rs
+++ b/crates/typst-cli/src/args.rs
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ pub struct CompileCommand {
     pub pdf_standard: Vec<PdfStandard>,
 }
 
-/// A PDF standard.
+/// A PDF standard that Typst can enforce conformance with.
 #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, Eq, PartialEq, ValueEnum)]
 #[allow(non_camel_case_types)]
 pub enum PdfStandard {
diff --git a/crates/typst-pdf/Cargo.toml b/crates/typst-pdf/Cargo.toml
index cdd65e828..642299452 100644
--- a/crates/typst-pdf/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/typst-pdf/Cargo.toml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ miniz_oxide = { workspace = true }
 once_cell = { workspace = true }
 pdf-writer = { workspace = true }
 arrayvec = { workspace = true }
+serde = { workspace = true }
 subsetter = { workspace = true }
 svg2pdf = { workspace = true }
 ttf-parser = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/typst-pdf/src/lib.rs b/crates/typst-pdf/src/lib.rs
index 587f66cb1..7df77f10a 100644
--- a/crates/typst-pdf/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/typst-pdf/src/lib.rs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ use std::ops::{Deref, DerefMut};
 
 use base64::Engine;
 use pdf_writer::{Chunk, Name, Pdf, Ref, Str, TextStr};
+use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use typst::diag::{bail, SourceResult, StrResult};
 use typst::foundations::{Datetime, Smart};
 use typst::layout::{Abs, Em, PageRanges, Transform};
@@ -128,16 +129,18 @@ impl Default for PdfStandards {
     }
 }
 
-/// A PDF standard.
+/// A PDF standard that Typst can enforce conformance with.
 ///
 /// Support for more standards is planned.
-#[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, Eq, PartialEq)]
+#[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, Eq, PartialEq, Serialize, Deserialize)]
 #[allow(non_camel_case_types)]
 #[non_exhaustive]
 pub enum PdfStandard {
     /// PDF 1.7.
+    #[serde(rename = "1.7")]
     V_1_7,
     /// PDF/A-2b.
+    #[serde(rename = "a-2b")]
     A_2b,
 }