diff --git a/CHANGES.md b/CHANGES.md
index bd06080..966f4eb 100644
--- a/CHANGES.md
+++ b/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+v2.5.3
+
+* add a `mix.exs` to be buildable by both mix and rebar
+* minor README updates
+
 v2.5.2
 
 * fix regression parsing <<"-0e...">> (thanks @c-bik)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ad1732f..4827e73 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# jsx (v2.5.2) #
+# jsx (v2.5.3) #
 
 
 an erlang application for consuming, producing and manipulating [json][json]. 
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d8aab4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+defmodule JSX.Mixfile do
+use Mix.Project
+
+  def project do
+    [
+      app: :jsx,
+      version: "2.5.3",
+      description: "an erlang application for consuming, producing and manipulating json. inspired by yajl",
+      deps: deps(Mix.env),
+      package: package,
+      language: :erlang,
+      erlc_options: opts(Mix.env)
+    ]
+  end
+
+  defp opts(:dev), do: [d: :TEST]
+  defp opts(_), do: []
+
+  defp deps(:dev), do: [{:mixunit, "~> 0.9.1", :optional}]
+  defp deps(_), do: []
+
+  defp package do
+    [
+      files: [
+        "CHANGES.md",
+        "LICENSE",
+        "mix.exs",
+        "rebar.config",
+        "README.md",
+        "src"
+      ],
+      contributors: ["alisdair sullivan"],
+      links: %{"github" => "https://github.com/talentdeficit/jsx"},
+      licenses: ["MIT"]
+    ]
+  end
+end
+
diff --git a/src/jsx.app.src b/src/jsx.app.src
index e623210..50f00b5 100644
--- a/src/jsx.app.src
+++ b/src/jsx.app.src
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {application, jsx,
 [
     {description, "a streaming, evented json parsing toolkit"},
-    {vsn, "2.5.2"},
+    {vsn, "2.5.3"},
     {modules, [
         jsx,
         jsx_encoder,