diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index f2f6cc8..c0c4d96 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -297,6 +297,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "opaque-debug",
  "p256",
  "p384",
+ "pkcs8",
  "ring",
  "signature",
 ]
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index af093e2..ff53669 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,13 +20,14 @@ generic-array = { version = "0.14", default-features = false }
 opaque-debug = "0.3"
 ring = { version = "0.16", default-features = false }
 
-# optional features
+# optional dependencies
 aead = { version = "0.5", optional = true, default-features = false }
 digest = { version = "0.10", optional = true }
 ecdsa = { version = "0.14", optional = true, default-features = false }
 ed25519 = { version = "1.4", optional = true, default-features = false }
 p256 = { version = "0.11", optional = true, default-features = false, features = ["ecdsa-core"] }
 p384 = { version = "0.11", optional = true, default-features = false, features = ["ecdsa-core"] }
+pkcs8 = { version = "0.9", optional = true, default-features = false }
 signature = { version = "1", optional = true, default-features = false }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
@@ -35,9 +36,9 @@ digest = { version = "0.10", features = ["dev"] }
 
 [features]
 default = ["aead", "alloc", "digest", "signature"]
-alloc = ["aead?/alloc"]
-signature = ["dep:ecdsa", "dep:ed25519", "dep:p256", "dep:p384", "dep:signature"]
-std = ["digest?/std", "ecdsa?/std", "ed25519?/std"]
+alloc = ["aead?/alloc", "pkcs8?/alloc"]
+signature = ["dep:ecdsa", "dep:ed25519", "dep:p256", "dep:p384", "dep:pkcs8", "dep:signature"]
+std = ["digest?/std", "ecdsa?/std", "ed25519?/std", "pkcs8?/std"]
 
 [package.metadata.docs.rs]
 all-features = true
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 2c79fc0..30d74f2 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -36,4 +36,6 @@ pub mod digest;
 pub mod signature;
 
 pub use generic_array;
-pub use ring;
+
+#[cfg(feature = "signature")]
+pub use pkcs8;
diff --git a/src/signature/ecdsa/signing_key.rs b/src/signature/ecdsa/signing_key.rs
index e34a762..734f3da 100644
--- a/src/signature/ecdsa/signing_key.rs
+++ b/src/signature/ecdsa/signing_key.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ use ::ecdsa::{
 };
 use core::marker::PhantomData;
 use generic_array::ArrayLength;
+use pkcs8::{DecodePrivateKey, PrivateKeyInfo};
 use ring::{
     self,
     rand::SystemRandom,
@@ -35,17 +36,6 @@ where
     C: PrimeCurve + CurveAlg,
     SignatureSize<C>: ArrayLength<u8>,
 {
-    /// Initialize a [`SigningKey`] from a PKCS#8-encoded private key
-    pub fn from_pkcs8(pkcs8_key: &[u8]) -> Result<Self, Error> {
-        EcdsaKeyPair::from_pkcs8(C::signing_alg(), pkcs8_key)
-            .map(|keypair| Self {
-                keypair,
-                csrng: SystemRandom::new(),
-                curve: PhantomData,
-            })
-            .map_err(|_| Error::new())
-    }
-
     /// Initialize a [`SigningKey`] from a raw keypair
     pub fn from_keypair_bytes(signing_key: &[u8], verifying_key: &[u8]) -> Result<Self, Error> {
         EcdsaKeyPair::from_private_key_and_public_key(C::signing_alg(), signing_key, verifying_key)
@@ -66,6 +56,34 @@ where
     }
 }
 
+impl<C> DecodePrivateKey for SigningKey<C>
+where
+    C: PrimeCurve + CurveAlg,
+    SignatureSize<C>: ArrayLength<u8>,
+{
+    fn from_pkcs8_der(pkcs8_bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<Self, pkcs8::Error> {
+        EcdsaKeyPair::from_pkcs8(C::signing_alg(), pkcs8_bytes)
+            .map(|keypair| Self {
+                keypair,
+                csrng: SystemRandom::new(),
+                curve: PhantomData,
+            })
+            .map_err(|_| pkcs8::Error::KeyMalformed)
+    }
+}
+
+impl<C> TryFrom<PrivateKeyInfo<'_>> for SigningKey<C>
+where
+    C: PrimeCurve + CurveAlg,
+    SignatureSize<C>: ArrayLength<u8>,
+{
+    type Error = pkcs8::Error;
+
+    fn try_from(_: PrivateKeyInfo<'_>) -> Result<Self, pkcs8::Error> {
+        todo!()
+    }
+}
+
 impl<C> Signer<Signature<C>> for SigningKey<C>
 where
     C: PrimeCurve + CurveAlg,
diff --git a/src/signature/ed25519.rs b/src/signature/ed25519.rs
index 40de293..d81dca2 100644
--- a/src/signature/ed25519.rs
+++ b/src/signature/ed25519.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ pub use ed25519::Signature;
 
 use super::{Error, Signer, Verifier};
 use core::convert::TryInto;
+use pkcs8::{DecodePrivateKey, PrivateKeyInfo};
 use ring::{
     self,
     signature::{Ed25519KeyPair, KeyPair, UnparsedPublicKey},
@@ -25,19 +26,28 @@ impl SigningKey {
             .map_err(|_| Error::new())
     }
 
-    /// Create a new [`SigningKey`] from a PKCS#8 encoded key.
-    pub fn from_pkcs8(pkcs8_key: &[u8]) -> Result<Self, Error> {
-        Ed25519KeyPair::from_pkcs8(pkcs8_key)
-            .map(SigningKey)
-            .map_err(|_| Error::new())
-    }
-
     /// Get the [`VerifyingKey`] for this [`SigningKey`].
     pub fn verifying_key(&self) -> VerifyingKey {
         VerifyingKey(self.0.public_key().as_ref().try_into().unwrap())
     }
 }
 
+impl DecodePrivateKey for SigningKey {
+    fn from_pkcs8_der(pkcs8_bytes: &[u8]) -> Result<Self, pkcs8::Error> {
+        Ed25519KeyPair::from_pkcs8(pkcs8_bytes)
+            .map(SigningKey)
+            .map_err(|_| pkcs8::Error::KeyMalformed)
+    }
+}
+
+impl TryFrom<PrivateKeyInfo<'_>> for SigningKey {
+    type Error = pkcs8::Error;
+
+    fn try_from(_: PrivateKeyInfo<'_>) -> Result<Self, pkcs8::Error> {
+        todo!()
+    }
+}
+
 impl Signer<Signature> for SigningKey {
     fn try_sign(&self, msg: &[u8]) -> Result<Signature, Error> {
         Ok(Signature::from_bytes(self.0.sign(msg).as_ref()).unwrap())