diff --git a/src/JLD2.jl b/src/JLD2.jl
index b0a19a27..b76b1780 100644
--- a/src/JLD2.jl
+++ b/src/JLD2.jl
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ mutable struct JLDFile{T<:IO}
     path::String
     writable::Bool
     written::Bool
+    plain::Bool
     compress#::Union{Bool,Symbol}
     mmaparrays::Bool
     n_times_opened::Int
@@ -125,11 +126,13 @@ mutable struct JLDFile{T<:IO}
     root_group::Group{JLDFile{T}}
     types_group::Group{JLDFile{T}}
     base_address::UInt64
+    
 
     function JLDFile{T}(io::IO, path::AbstractString, writable::Bool, written::Bool,
+                        plain::Bool,
                         compress,#::Union{Bool,Symbol},
                         mmaparrays::Bool) where T
-        f = new(io, path, writable, written, compress, mmaparrays, 1, false,
+        f = new(io, path, writable, written, plain, compress, mmaparrays, 1, false,
             OrderedDict{RelOffset,CommittedDatatype}(), H5Datatype[],
             JLDWriteSession(), Dict{String,Any}(), IdDict(), IdDict(), Dict{RelOffset,WeakRef}(),
             DATA_START, Dict{RelOffset,GlobalHeap}(),
@@ -138,8 +141,8 @@ mutable struct JLDFile{T<:IO}
         f
     end
 end
-JLDFile(io::IO, path::AbstractString, writable::Bool, written::Bool, compress, mmaparrays::Bool) =
-    JLDFile{typeof(io)}(io, path, writable, written, compress, mmaparrays)
+JLDFile(io::IO, path::AbstractString, writable::Bool, written::Bool, plain::Bool, compress, mmaparrays::Bool) =
+    JLDFile{typeof(io)}(io, path, writable, written, plain, compress, mmaparrays)
 
 """
     fileoffset(f::JLDFile, x::RelOffset)
@@ -189,6 +192,7 @@ function jldopen(fname::AbstractString, wr::Bool, create::Bool, truncate::Bool,
                  mmaparrays::Bool=false,
                  typemap::Dict{String}=Dict{String,Any}(),
                  parallel_read::Bool=false,
+                 plain::Bool=false
                  ) where T<:Union{Type{IOStream},Type{MmapIO}}
     mmaparrays && @warn "mmaparrays keyword is currently ignored" maxlog=1
     verify_compressor(compress)
@@ -240,7 +244,7 @@ function jldopen(fname::AbstractString, wr::Bool, create::Bool, truncate::Bool,
         io = openfile(iotype, fname, wr, create, truncate, fallback)
         created = !exists || truncate
         rname = realpath(fname)
-        f = JLDFile(io, rname, wr, created, compress, mmaparrays)
+        f = JLDFile(io, rname, wr, created, plain, compress, mmaparrays)
 
         if !parallel_read
             OPEN_FILES[rname] = WeakRef(f)
diff --git a/src/data/reconstructing_datatypes.jl b/src/data/reconstructing_datatypes.jl
index 3eb75960..ca40bc7c 100644
--- a/src/data/reconstructing_datatypes.jl
+++ b/src/data/reconstructing_datatypes.jl
@@ -98,6 +98,11 @@ function jltype(f::JLDFile, cdt::CommittedDatatype)
     end
 
     datatype = read_attr_data(f, julia_type_attr)
+    if f.plain && !(datatype isa Upgrade) && !(datatype <: Tuple) 
+        rr = jltype(f, dt)
+        return f.h5jltype[cdt] = rr
+    end
+
     if written_type_attr !== nothing
         # Custom serialization
         custom_datatype = read_attr_data(f, written_type_attr)
@@ -415,6 +420,9 @@ function jlconvert(rr::ReadRepresentation{T,DataTypeODR()},
     isunknowntype(m) && return m
     unknown_params && return UnknownType{m, Tuple{params...}}
     if hasparams
+        if f.plain && !(m === Tuple)
+            return Any
+        end
         try
             m = m{params...}
         catch e
diff --git a/test/test_files.jl b/test/test_files.jl
index e4185ebd..dd0802e7 100644
--- a/test/test_files.jl
+++ b/test/test_files.jl
@@ -257,4 +257,16 @@ end
     @test getfoo("readas_foo_n_sin.jld2") isa Readas.FooN{typeof(sin)}
     @test getfoo("readas_foo_a.jld2") isa Readas.Foo{Readas.UndefinedFunction}
     @test getfoo("readas_foo_n_a.jld2") isa Readas.FooNSerialization
+end
+
+
+@testset "plain reconstruction" begin
+    fn = joinpath(testfiles,"struct_reconstruction.jld2")
+    data = load(fn; plain=true)
+    # This is somewhat broken: Tuples are committed with field names "1", "2",...
+    # these are valid names but break most of the common API incl. the @NamedTuple macro
+    #@test data["tms"] == @NamedTuple{1::Int64, 2}((1, (a = 1,)))
+    @test getproperty(data["tms"], Symbol(1)) == 1
+    @test data["s"]   == (a = 1,)
+    @test data["ds"].kvvec[1]  == (; first = "a", second = (a = 1,))
 end
\ No newline at end of file