diff --git a/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/serialization-jackson.md b/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/serialization-jackson.md
index 00d6a45365..7a41cc3c3d 100644
--- a/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/serialization-jackson.md
+++ b/akka-docs/src/main/paradox/serialization-jackson.md
@@ -270,6 +270,18 @@ That type of migration must be configured with the old class name as key. The ac
 
 @@snip [config](/akka-serialization-jackson/src/test/scala/doc/akka/serialization/jackson/SerializationDocSpec.scala) { #migrations-conf-rename }
 
+### Remove from serialization-bindings
+
+When a class is not used for serialization any more it can be removed from `serialization-bindings` but to still
+allow deserialization it must then be listed in the `whitelist-class-prefix` configuration. This is useful for example
+during rolling update with serialization changes, or when reading old stored data. It can also be used
+when changing from Jackson serializer to another serializer (e.g. Protobuf) and thereby changing the serialization
+binding, but it should still be possible to deserialize old data with Jackson.
+
+@@snip [config](/akka-serialization-jackson/src/test/scala/doc/akka/serialization/jackson/SerializationDocSpec.scala) { #whitelist-class-prefix }
+
+It's a list of class names or prefixes of class names.
+
 ## Jackson Modules
 
 The following Jackson modules are enabled by default:
diff --git a/akka-serialization-jackson/src/main/resources/reference.conf b/akka-serialization-jackson/src/main/resources/reference.conf
index b1cefb42ea..4dd9e6bba9 100644
--- a/akka-serialization-jackson/src/main/resources/reference.conf
+++ b/akka-serialization-jackson/src/main/resources/reference.conf
@@ -66,6 +66,11 @@ akka.serialization.jackson {
     FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES = off
   }
 
+  # Additional classes that are allowed even if they are not defined in `serialization-bindings`.
+  # This is useful when a class is not used for serialization any more and therefore removed
+  # from `serialization-bindings`, but should still be possible to deserialize.
+  whitelist-class-prefix = []
+
   # Specific settings for jackson-json binding can be defined in this section to
   # override the settings in 'akka.serialization.jackson'
   jackson-json {}
diff --git a/akka-serialization-jackson/src/main/scala/akka/serialization/jackson/JacksonSerializer.scala b/akka-serialization-jackson/src/main/scala/akka/serialization/jackson/JacksonSerializer.scala
index a832900ca2..1a800c103a 100644
--- a/akka-serialization-jackson/src/main/scala/akka/serialization/jackson/JacksonSerializer.scala
+++ b/akka-serialization-jackson/src/main/scala/akka/serialization/jackson/JacksonSerializer.scala
@@ -158,6 +158,10 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.smile.SmileFactory
     }
   }
   private val blacklist: GadgetClassBlacklist = new GadgetClassBlacklist
+  private val whitelistClassPrefix = {
+    import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
+    conf.getStringList("whitelist-class-prefix").asScala.toVector
+  }
 
   // This must lazy otherwise it will deadlock the ActorSystem creation
   private lazy val serialization = SerializationExtension(system)
@@ -286,7 +290,7 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.smile.SmileFactory
       val warnMsg = s"Can't serialize/deserialize object of type [${clazz.getName}] in [${getClass.getName}]. " +
         "Only classes that are whitelisted are allowed for security reasons. " +
         "Configure whitelist with akka.actor.serialization-bindings or " +
-        "akka.serialization.jackson.whitelist-packages."
+        "akka.serialization.jackson.whitelist-class-prefix."
       log.warning(LogMarker.Security, warnMsg)
       throw new IllegalArgumentException(warnMsg)
     }
@@ -299,30 +303,38 @@ import com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat.smile.SmileFactory
    * used for selecting serializer.
    * Here we use `serialization-bindings` also and more importantly when deserializing (fromBinary)
    * to check that the manifest class is of a known (registered) type.
-   * The drawback of using `serialization-bindings` for this is that an old class can't be removed
-   * from `serialization-bindings` when it's not used for serialization but still used for
-   * deserialization (e.g. rolling update with serialization changes). It's also
-   * not possible to change a binding from a JacksonSerializer to another serializer (e.g. protobuf)
+   *
+   * If and old class is removed from `serialization-bindings` when it's not used for serialization
+   * but still used for deserialization (e.g. rolling update with serialization changes) it can
+   * be allowed by specifying in `whitelist-class-prefix`.
+   *
+   * That is also possible when changing a binding from a JacksonSerializer to another serializer (e.g. protobuf)
    * and still bind with the same class (interface).
-   * If this is too limiting we can add another config property as an additional way to
-   * whitelist classes that are not bound to this serializer with serialization-bindings.
    */
   private def isInWhitelist(clazz: Class[_]): Boolean = {
+    isBoundToJacksonSerializer(clazz) || isInWhitelistClassPrefix(clazz.getName)
+  }
+
+  private def isBoundToJacksonSerializer(clazz: Class[_]): Boolean = {
     try {
       // The reason for using isInstanceOf rather than `eq this` is to allow change of
       // serializizer within the Jackson family, but we don't trust other serializers
       // because they might be bound to open-ended interfaces like java.io.Serializable.
       val boundSerializer = serialization.serializerFor(clazz)
       boundSerializer.isInstanceOf[JacksonSerializer] ||
+      // FIXME this is probably not needed when we have the more flexible configuration in place and
+      //       can bind use the plain JacksonJsonSerializer for the old serializerId
       // to support rolling updates in Lagom we also trust the binding to the Lagom 1.5.x JacksonJsonSerializer,
       // which is named OldJacksonJsonSerializer in Lagom 1.6.x
-      // FIXME maybe make this configurable, but I don't see any other usages than for Lagom?
       boundSerializer.getClass.getName == "com.lightbend.lagom.internal.jackson.OldJacksonJsonSerializer"
     } catch {
       case NonFatal(_) => false // not bound
     }
   }
 
+  private def isInWhitelistClassPrefix(className: String): Boolean =
+    whitelistClassPrefix.exists(className.startsWith)
+
   /**
    * Check that serialization-bindings are not configured with open-ended interfaces,
    * like java.lang.Object, bound to this serializer.
diff --git a/akka-serialization-jackson/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/jackson/JacksonSerializerSpec.scala b/akka-serialization-jackson/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/jackson/JacksonSerializerSpec.scala
index 806e022511..1cec3e033f 100644
--- a/akka-serialization-jackson/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/jackson/JacksonSerializerSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-serialization-jackson/src/test/scala/akka/serialization/jackson/JacksonSerializerSpec.scala
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ object ScalaTestMessages {
   // not defined in JsonSubTypes
   final case class Cockroach(name: String) extends Animal
 
+  final case class OldCommandNotInBindings(name: String)
+
 }
 
 class ScalaTestEventMigration extends JacksonMigration {
@@ -273,6 +275,17 @@ class JacksonJsonSerializerSpec extends JacksonSerializerSpec("jackson-json") {
         json should ===(expected)
       }
     }
+
+    "allow deserialization of classes in configured whitelist-class-prefix" in {
+      val json = """{"name":"abc"}"""
+
+      val old = SimpleCommand("abc")
+      val serializer = serializerFor(old)
+
+      val expected = OldCommandNotInBindings("abc")
+
+      deserializeFromJsonString(json, serializer.identifier, serializer.manifest(expected)) should ===(expected)
+    }
   }
 }
 
@@ -294,6 +307,7 @@ abstract class JacksonSerializerSpec(serializerName: String)
         "akka.serialization.jackson.JavaTestMessages$$TestMessage" = $serializerName
       }
     }
+    akka.serialization.jackson.whitelist-class-prefix = ["akka.serialization.jackson.ScalaTestMessages$$OldCommand"]
     """)))
     with WordSpecLike
     with Matchers
diff --git a/akka-serialization-jackson/src/test/scala/doc/akka/serialization/jackson/SerializationDocSpec.scala b/akka-serialization-jackson/src/test/scala/doc/akka/serialization/jackson/SerializationDocSpec.scala
index 289ffbb6cc..35c3af640e 100644
--- a/akka-serialization-jackson/src/test/scala/doc/akka/serialization/jackson/SerializationDocSpec.scala
+++ b/akka-serialization-jackson/src/test/scala/doc/akka/serialization/jackson/SerializationDocSpec.scala
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ object SerializationDocSpec {
   val configMigrationRenamClass = """
     #//#migrations-conf-rename
     akka.serialization.jackson.migrations {
-      "com.myservice.event.OrederAdded" = "com.myservice.event.OrderPlacedMigration"
+      "com.myservice.event.OrderAdded" = "com.myservice.event.OrderPlacedMigration"
     }
     #//#migrations-conf-rename
   """
@@ -111,5 +111,13 @@ object SerializationDocSpec {
     }
     #//#date-time
     """
+
+  val configWhitelist = """
+    #//#whitelist-class-prefix
+    akka.serialization.jackson.whitelist-class-prefix = 
+      ["com.myservice.event.OrderAdded", "com.myservice.command"]
+    #//#whitelist-class-prefix
+  """
+
 }
 // FIXME add real tests for the migrations, see EventMigrationTest.java in Lagom