diff --git a/src/stream/raw.rs b/src/stream/raw.rs
index 32d1b14e..048a8ac3 100644
--- a/src/stream/raw.rs
+++ b/src/stream/raw.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 //!
 //! They are mostly thin wrappers around `zstd_safe::{DCtx, CCtx}`.
 use std::io;
+use std::marker::PhantomData;
+use std::ops::{Deref, DerefMut};
 
 pub use zstd_safe::{CParameter, DParameter, InBuffer, OutBuffer, WriteBuf};
 
@@ -132,7 +134,7 @@ pub struct Status {
 
 /// An in-memory decoder for streams of data.
 pub struct Decoder<'a> {
-    context: zstd_safe::DCtx<'a>,
+    context: MaybeOwned<'a, zstd_safe::DCtx<'a>>,
 }
 
 impl Decoder<'static> {
@@ -148,11 +150,16 @@ impl Decoder<'static> {
         context
             .load_dictionary(dictionary)
             .map_err(map_error_code)?;
-        Ok(Decoder { context })
+        Ok(Decoder { context: MaybeOwned::owned(context) })
     }
 }
 
 impl<'a> Decoder<'a> {
+    /// Creates a new decoder which employs the provided context for deserialization.
+    pub fn with_context<'b: 'a>(context: &'a mut zstd_safe::DCtx<'b>) -> Self {
+        Self { context: MaybeOwned::borrowed(context) }
+    }
+
     /// Creates a new decoder, using an existing `DecoderDictionary`.
     pub fn with_prepared_dictionary<'b>(
         dictionary: &DecoderDictionary<'b>,
@@ -164,7 +171,7 @@ impl<'a> Decoder<'a> {
         context
             .ref_ddict(dictionary.as_ddict())
             .map_err(map_error_code)?;
-        Ok(Decoder { context })
+        Ok(Decoder { context: MaybeOwned::owned(context) })
     }
 
     /// Sets a decompression parameter for this decoder.
@@ -229,7 +236,7 @@ impl Operation for Decoder<'_> {
 
 /// An in-memory encoder for streams of data.
 pub struct Encoder<'a> {
-    context: zstd_safe::CCtx<'a>,
+    context: MaybeOwned<'a, zstd_safe::CCtx<'a>>,
 }
 
 impl Encoder<'static> {
@@ -250,11 +257,16 @@ impl Encoder<'static> {
             .load_dictionary(dictionary)
             .map_err(map_error_code)?;
 
-        Ok(Encoder { context })
+        Ok(Encoder { context: MaybeOwned::owned(context) })
     }
 }
 
 impl<'a> Encoder<'a> {
+    /// Creates a new encoder that uses the provided context for serialization.
+    pub fn with_context<'b: 'a>(context: &'a mut zstd_safe::CCtx<'b>) -> Self {
+        Self { context: MaybeOwned::borrowed(context) }
+    }
+
     /// Creates a new encoder using an existing `EncoderDictionary`.
     pub fn with_prepared_dictionary<'b>(
         dictionary: &EncoderDictionary<'b>,
@@ -266,7 +278,7 @@ impl<'a> Encoder<'a> {
         context
             .ref_cdict(dictionary.as_cdict())
             .map_err(map_error_code)?;
-        Ok(Encoder { context })
+        Ok(Encoder { context: MaybeOwned::owned(context) })
     }
 
     /// Sets a compression parameter for this encoder.
@@ -330,6 +342,50 @@ impl<'a> Operation for Encoder<'a> {
     }
 }
 
+struct MaybeOwned<'a, T>(MaybeOwnedInner<'a, T>);
+
+impl<'a, T> MaybeOwned<'a, T> {
+    pub fn owned(value: T) -> Self {
+        Self(MaybeOwnedInner::Owned(value))
+    }
+
+    pub fn borrowed(value: &'a mut T) -> Self {
+        Self(MaybeOwnedInner::Borrowed((value as *mut T) as *mut _, PhantomData))
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a, T> Deref for MaybeOwned<'a, T> {
+    type Target = T;
+
+    fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
+        unsafe {
+            match &self.0 {
+                MaybeOwnedInner::Owned(x) => x,
+                MaybeOwnedInner::Borrowed(x, _) => &*(*x as *mut _)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'a, T> DerefMut for MaybeOwned<'a, T> {
+    fn deref_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Self::Target {
+        unsafe {
+            match &mut self.0 {
+                MaybeOwnedInner::Owned(x) => x,
+                MaybeOwnedInner::Borrowed(x, _) => &mut *(*x as *mut _)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+enum MaybeOwnedInner<'a, T> {
+    Owned(T),
+    Borrowed(*mut (), PhantomData<&'a ()>)
+}
+
+unsafe impl<'a, T: Send> Send for MaybeOwned<'a, T> {}
+unsafe impl<'a, T: Sync> Sync for MaybeOwned<'a, T> {}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
 
diff --git a/src/stream/read/mod.rs b/src/stream/read/mod.rs
index a3a947b0..412d9c71 100644
--- a/src/stream/read/mod.rs
+++ b/src/stream/read/mod.rs
@@ -46,6 +46,11 @@ impl<R: BufRead> Decoder<'static, R> {
     }
 }
 impl<'a, R: BufRead> Decoder<'a, R> {
+    /// Creates a new decoder which employs the provided context for deserialization.
+    pub fn with_context<'b: 'a>(reader: R, context: &'a mut zstd_safe::DCtx<'b>) -> Self {
+        Self { reader: zio::Reader::new(reader, raw::Decoder::with_context(context)) }
+    }
+
     /// Sets this `Decoder` to stop after the first frame.
     ///
     /// By default, it keeps concatenating frames until EOF is reached.
diff --git a/src/stream/write/mod.rs b/src/stream/write/mod.rs
index 9103c2d9..05eecb5e 100644
--- a/src/stream/write/mod.rs
+++ b/src/stream/write/mod.rs
@@ -193,6 +193,11 @@ impl<W: Write> Encoder<'static, W> {
 }
 
 impl<'a, W: Write> Encoder<'a, W> {
+    /// Creates an encoder that uses the provided context to compress a stream.
+    pub fn with_context<'b: 'a>(writer: W, context: &'a mut zstd_safe::CCtx<'b>) -> Self {
+        Self { writer: zio::Writer::new(writer, raw::Encoder::with_context(context)) }
+    }
+
     /// Creates a new encoder, using an existing prepared `EncoderDictionary`.
     ///
     /// (Provides better compression ratio for small files,