diff --git a/btrdb/__init__.py b/btrdb/__init__.py
index a7019c7..cd14662 100644
--- a/btrdb/__init__.py
+++ b/btrdb/__init__.py
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@
 from btrdb.exceptions import ConnectionError
 from btrdb.version import get_version
 from btrdb.utils.credentials import credentials_by_profile, credentials
+from btrdb.utils.ray import register_serializer
 from btrdb.stream import MINIMUM_TIME, MAXIMUM_TIME
+from warnings import warn
 
 ##########################################################################
 ## Module Variables
@@ -40,7 +42,7 @@
 def _connect(endpoints=None, apikey=None):
     return BTrDB(Endpoint(Connection(endpoints, apikey=apikey).channel))
 
-def connect(conn_str=None, apikey=None, profile=None):
+def connect(conn_str=None, apikey=None, profile=None, shareable=False):
     """
     Connect to a BTrDB server.
 
@@ -57,6 +59,12 @@ def connect(conn_str=None, apikey=None, profile=None):
         The name of a profile containing the required connection information as
         found in the user's predictive grid credentials file
         `~/.predictivegrid/credentials.yaml`.
+    shareable: bool, default=False
+        Whether or not the connection can be "shared" in a distributed setting such
+        as Ray workers. If set to True, the connection can be serialized and sent
+        to other workers so that data can be retrieved in parallel; **however**, this
+        is less secure because it is possible for other users of the Ray cluster to
+        use your API key to fetch data.
 
     Returns
     -------
@@ -68,6 +76,11 @@ def connect(conn_str=None, apikey=None, profile=None):
     if conn_str and profile:
         raise ValueError("Received both conn_str and profile arguments.")
 
+    # check shareable flag and register custom serializer if necessary
+    if shareable:
+        warn("a shareable connection is potentially insecure; other users of the same cluster may be able to access your API key")
+        register_serializer(conn_str=conn_str, apikey=apikey, profile=profile)
+
     # use specific profile if requested
     if profile:
         return _connect(**credentials_by_profile(profile))
diff --git a/btrdb/utils/ray.py b/btrdb/utils/ray.py
index 8df9527..64b2990 100644
--- a/btrdb/utils/ray.py
+++ b/btrdb/utils/ray.py
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 import ray
 
+import semver
+
 import btrdb
 from btrdb.conn import BTrDB
 
@@ -22,8 +24,18 @@ def register_serializer(conn_str=None, apikey=None, profile=None):
         found in the user's predictive grid credentials file
         `~/.predictivegrid/credentials.yaml`.
     """
-    ray.register_custom_serializer(
-    BTrDB, serializer=btrdb_serializer, deserializer=partial(btrdb_deserializer, conn_str=conn_str, apikey=apikey, profile=profile))
+    assert ray.is_initialized(), "Need to call ray.init() before registering custom serializer"
+    # TODO: check the version using the 'semver' package?
+    ver = semver.VersionInfo.parse(ray.__version__)
+    if ver.major == 0:
+        ray.register_custom_serializer(
+        BTrDB, serializer=btrdb_serializer, deserializer=partial(btrdb_deserializer, conn_str=conn_str, apikey=apikey, profile=profile))
+    elif ver.major == 1 and ver.minor in range(2, 4):
+    # TODO: check different versions of ray?
+        ray.util.register_serializer(
+        BTrDB, serializer=btrdb_serializer, deserializer=partial(btrdb_deserializer, conn_str=conn_str, apikey=apikey, profile=profile))
+    else:
+        raise Exception("Ray version %s does not have custom serialization. Please upgrade to >= 1.2.0" % ray.__version__)
 
 def btrdb_serializer(_):
     """