diff --git a/typedbytes.py b/typedbytes.py
index c66391f..72d2849 100644
--- a/typedbytes.py
+++ b/typedbytes.py
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@
 LIST = 9
 MAP = 10
 
+# As defined here:
+# https://github.com/apache/hadoop/blob/trunk/hadoop-tools/hadoop-streaming/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/typedbytes/Type.java#L40
+WRITABLE = 50
+
 # Application-specific types:
 PICKLE = 100
 BYTESTRING = 101
@@ -193,6 +197,7 @@ def invalid_typecode(self):
             VECTOR: read_vector,
             LIST: read_list,
             MAP: read_map,
+            WRITABLE: read_bytes,
             PICKLE: read_pickle,
             BYTESTRING: read_bytestring,
             MARKER: read_marker