diff --git a/docs/release.rst b/docs/release.rst
index ae113afb..d7f72873 100644
--- a/docs/release.rst
+++ b/docs/release.rst
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ Release notes
 * Update Cython to 0.29.6.
   By :user:`John Kirkham <jakirkham>`, :issue:`168`, :issue:`177`.
 
+* Add a ``subok`` option to the ``ensure_*`` functions to handle their behavior
+  with subclasses of the expected type.
+  By :user:`John Kirkham <jakirkham>`, :issue:`173`.
+
 
 .. _release_0.6.2:
 
diff --git a/numcodecs/compat.py b/numcodecs/compat.py
index 4fdde180..471731a1 100644
--- a/numcodecs/compat.py
+++ b/numcodecs/compat.py
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ def ensure_text(l, encoding='utf-8'):
         return text_type(l, encoding=encoding)
 
 
-def ensure_ndarray(buf):
+def ensure_ndarray(buf, subok=True):
     """Convenience function to coerce `buf` to a numpy array, if it is not already a
     numpy array.
 
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ def ensure_ndarray(buf):
     ----------
     buf : array-like or bytes-like
         A numpy array or any object exporting a buffer interface.
+    subok : bool
+        Whether to allow `ndarray` subclasses or not
 
     Returns
     -------
@@ -54,7 +56,11 @@ def ensure_ndarray(buf):
 
     """
 
-    if isinstance(buf, np.ndarray):
+    if type(buf) is np.ndarray:
+        # already a numpy array
+        arr = buf
+
+    elif subok and isinstance(buf, np.ndarray):
         # already a numpy array
         arr = buf
 
@@ -90,7 +96,7 @@ def ensure_ndarray(buf):
     return arr
 
 
-def ensure_contiguous_ndarray(buf, max_buffer_size=None):
+def ensure_contiguous_ndarray(buf, max_buffer_size=None, subok=True):
     """Convenience function to coerce `buf` to a numpy array, if it is not already a
     numpy array. Also ensures that the returned value exports fully contiguous memory,
     and supports the new-style buffer interface. If the optional max_buffer_size is
@@ -104,6 +110,8 @@ def ensure_contiguous_ndarray(buf, max_buffer_size=None):
     max_buffer_size : int
         If specified, the largest allowable value of arr.nbytes, where arr
         is the retured array.
+    subok : bool
+        Whether to allow `ndarray` subclasses or not
 
     Returns
     -------
@@ -118,7 +126,7 @@ def ensure_contiguous_ndarray(buf, max_buffer_size=None):
     """
 
     # ensure input is a numpy array
-    arr = ensure_ndarray(buf)
+    arr = ensure_ndarray(buf, subok=subok)
 
     # check for object arrays, these are just memory pointers, actual memory holding
     # item data is scattered elsewhere
@@ -144,10 +152,10 @@ def ensure_contiguous_ndarray(buf, max_buffer_size=None):
     return arr
 
 
-def ensure_bytes(buf):
+def ensure_bytes(buf, subok=True):
     """Obtain a bytes object from memory exposed by `buf`."""
 
-    if not isinstance(buf, binary_type):
+    if not (type(buf) is binary_type or (subok and isinstance(buf, binary_type))):
 
         # go via numpy, for convenience
         arr = ensure_ndarray(buf)
diff --git a/numcodecs/tests/test_compat.py b/numcodecs/tests/test_compat.py
index ed88f171..68b1ce4d 100644
--- a/numcodecs/tests/test_compat.py
+++ b/numcodecs/tests/test_compat.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 from __future__ import absolute_import, print_function, division
 import array
+import itertools
 import mmap
 
 
@@ -23,6 +24,24 @@ def test_ensure_bytes():
         assert isinstance(b, bytes)
 
 
+def test_ensure_bytes_subok():
+    class MyBytes(bytes):
+        pass
+
+    bufs = [
+        b'adsdasdas',
+        MyBytes(b'adsdasdas'),
+    ]
+    suboks = [True, False]
+    for buf, subok in itertools.product(bufs, suboks):
+        b = ensure_bytes(buf, subok=subok)
+        assert isinstance(b, bytes)
+        if subok:
+            assert type(b) is type(buf)
+        else:
+            assert type(b) is bytes
+
+
 def test_ensure_contiguous_ndarray_shares_memory():
     typed_bufs = [
         ('u', 1, b'adsdasdas'),
@@ -51,6 +70,21 @@ def test_ensure_contiguous_ndarray_shares_memory():
             assert np.shares_memory(a, memoryview(buf))
 
 
+def test_ensure_contiguous_ndarray_subok():
+    bufs = [
+        np.arange(100, dtype=np.int64),
+        np.ma.arange(100, dtype=np.int64),
+    ]
+    suboks = [True, False]
+    for buf, subok in itertools.product(bufs, suboks):
+        a = ensure_contiguous_ndarray(buf, subok=subok)
+        assert isinstance(a, np.ndarray)
+        if subok:
+            assert type(a) is type(buf)
+        else:
+            assert type(a) is np.ndarray
+
+
 def test_ensure_bytes_invalid_inputs():
 
     # object array not allowed