diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8a3392e9..d0d7503d 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ Transforming fields requires two steps:
 
    ```elixir
    config :jsonapi,
-     field_transformation: :camelize # or dasherize
+     field_transformation: :camelize # or :dasherize, :camelize_shallow, or :dasherize_shallow
    ```
 
 2. Underscoring _incoming_ params (both query and body) requires you add the
@@ -215,7 +215,8 @@ config :jsonapi,
   `:camelize`. JSON:API v1.0 recommended using a dash (e.g.
   `"favorite-color": blue`). If your API uses dashed fields, set this value to
   `:dasherize`. If your API uses underscores (e.g. `"favorite_color": "red"`)
-  set to `:underscore`.
+  set to `:underscore`. To transform only the top-level field keys,  use
+  `:camelize_shallow` or `:dasherize_shallow`.
 - **remove_links**. `links` data can optionally be removed from the payload via
   setting the configuration above to `true`. Defaults to `false`.
 - **json_library**. Defaults to [Jason](https://hex.pm/packages/jason).
diff --git a/lib/jsonapi/plugs/query_parser.ex b/lib/jsonapi/plugs/query_parser.ex
index d849c2ad..ab12ccb2 100644
--- a/lib/jsonapi/plugs/query_parser.ex
+++ b/lib/jsonapi/plugs/query_parser.ex
@@ -282,15 +282,15 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.QueryParser do
   @spec get_view_for_type(module(), String.t()) :: module() | no_return()
   def get_view_for_type(view, type) do
     case Enum.find(view.relationships(), fn relationship ->
-           is_field_valid_for_relationship(relationship, type)
+           field_valid_for_relationship?(relationship, type)
          end) do
       {_, view} -> view
       nil -> raise_invalid_field_names(type, view.type())
     end
   end
 
-  @spec is_field_valid_for_relationship({atom(), module()}, String.t()) :: boolean()
-  defp is_field_valid_for_relationship({key, view}, expected_type) do
+  @spec field_valid_for_relationship?({atom(), module()}, String.t()) :: boolean()
+  defp field_valid_for_relationship?({key, view}, expected_type) do
     cond do
       view.type == expected_type ->
         true
diff --git a/lib/jsonapi/serializer.ex b/lib/jsonapi/serializer.ex
index 3c744a7f..0ea777e8 100644
--- a/lib/jsonapi/serializer.ex
+++ b/lib/jsonapi/serializer.ex
@@ -302,6 +302,8 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.Serializer do
     case Utils.String.field_transformation() do
       :camelize -> Utils.String.expand_fields(fields, &Utils.String.camelize/1)
       :dasherize -> Utils.String.expand_fields(fields, &Utils.String.dasherize/1)
+      :camelize_shallow -> Utils.String.expand_root_keys(fields, &Utils.String.camelize/1)
+      :dasherize_shallow -> Utils.String.expand_root_keys(fields, &Utils.String.dasherize/1)
       _ -> fields
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/jsonapi/utils/data_to_params.ex b/lib/jsonapi/utils/data_to_params.ex
index 651b417f..c442b773 100644
--- a/lib/jsonapi/utils/data_to_params.ex
+++ b/lib/jsonapi/utils/data_to_params.ex
@@ -110,7 +110,9 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.Utils.DataToParams do
   defp transform_fields(fields) do
     case JString.field_transformation() do
       :camelize -> JString.expand_fields(fields, &JString.camelize/1)
+      :camelize_shallow -> JString.expand_fields(fields, &JString.camelize/1)
       :dasherize -> JString.expand_fields(fields, &JString.dasherize/1)
+      :dasherize_shallow -> JString.expand_fields(fields, &JString.dasherize/1)
       _ -> fields
     end
   end
diff --git a/lib/jsonapi/utils/string.ex b/lib/jsonapi/utils/string.ex
index 0be48824..bbe308df 100644
--- a/lib/jsonapi/utils/string.ex
+++ b/lib/jsonapi/utils/string.ex
@@ -3,7 +3,13 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.Utils.String do
   String manipulation helpers.
   """
 
-  @allowed_transformations [:camelize, :dasherize, :underscore]
+  @allowed_transformations [
+    :camelize,
+    :dasherize,
+    :underscore,
+    :camelize_shallow,
+    :dasherize_shallow
+  ]
 
   @doc """
   Replace dashes between words in `value` with underscores
@@ -236,6 +242,27 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.Utils.String do
     value
   end
 
+  @doc """
+  Like `JSONAPI.Utils.String.expand_fields/2`, but only uses the given function to transform the
+  keys of a top-level map. Other values are transformed with `to_string/1`.
+
+  ## Examples
+
+      iex> expand_root_keys(%{"foo-bar" => %{"bar-baz" => "x"}}, &underscore/1)
+      %{"foo_bar" => %{"bar-baz" => "x"}}
+
+      iex> expand_root_keys(%{"foo-bar" => [:x, %{"bar-baz" => "y"}]}, &underscore/1)
+      %{"foo_bar" => ["x", %{"bar-baz" => "y"}]}
+
+  """
+  def expand_root_keys(map, fun) when is_map(map) do
+    Enum.into(map, %{}, fn {key, value} ->
+      {fun.(key), expand_fields(value, &to_string/1)}
+    end)
+  end
+
+  def expand_root_keys(value, _fun), do: expand_fields(value, &to_string/1)
+
   defp maybe_expand_fields(values, fun) when is_list(values) do
     Enum.map(values, fn
       string when is_binary(string) -> string
@@ -248,7 +275,8 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.Utils.String do
   using camlized fields (e.g. "goodDog", versus "good_dog").  However, we don't hold a strong
   opinion, so feel free to customize it how you would like (e.g. "good-dog", versus "good_dog").
 
-  This library currently supports camelized, dashed and underscored fields.
+  This library currently supports camelized, dashed and underscored fields. Shallow variants
+  exist that only transform top-level field keys.
 
   ## Configuration examples
 
@@ -258,12 +286,20 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.Utils.String do
   config :jsonapi, field_transformation: :camelize
   ```
 
+  ```
+  config :jsonapi, field_transformation: :camelize_shallow
+  ```
+
   Dashed fields:
 
   ```
   config :jsonapi, field_transformation: :dasherize
   ```
 
+  ```
+  config :jsonapi, field_transformation: :dasherize_shallow
+  ```
+
   Underscored fields:
 
   ```
diff --git a/mix.exs b/mix.exs
index 6a9f36df..d97e5374 100644
--- a/mix.exs
+++ b/mix.exs
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.Mixfile do
   end
 
   # Use Phoenix compiler depending on environment.
-  defp compilers(:test), do: [:phoenix] ++ Mix.compilers()
   defp compilers(_), do: Mix.compilers()
 
   # Specifies which paths to compile per environment.
diff --git a/test/jsonapi/serializer_test.exs b/test/jsonapi/serializer_test.exs
index ba6a986f..65543c3f 100644
--- a/test/jsonapi/serializer_test.exs
+++ b/test/jsonapi/serializer_test.exs
@@ -588,9 +588,14 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.SerializerTest do
         id: 1,
         text: "Hello",
         inserted_at: NaiveDateTime.utc_now(),
-        body: "Hello world",
+        body: %{data: "Hello world", data_attr: "foo"},
         full_description: "This_is_my_description",
-        author: %{id: 2, username: "jbonds", first_name: "jerry", last_name: "bonds"},
+        author: %{
+          id: 2,
+          username: "jbonds",
+          first_name: %{data: "jerry", data_attr: "foo"},
+          last_name: "bonds"
+        },
         best_comments: [
           %{
             id: 5,
@@ -607,15 +612,17 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.SerializerTest do
       included = encoded[:included]
 
       assert attributes["full-description"] == data[:full_description]
+      assert attributes["body"]["data-attr"] == "foo"
       assert attributes["inserted-at"] == data[:inserted_at]
 
-      assert Enum.find(included, fn i -> i[:type] == "user" && i[:id] == "2" end)[:attributes][
-               "last-name"
-             ] == "bonds"
+      author2 = Enum.find(included, fn i -> i[:type] == "user" && i[:id] == "2" end)
+      assert author2 != nil
+      assert author2[:attributes]["first-name"]["data-attr"] == "foo"
+      assert author2[:attributes]["last-name"] == "bonds"
 
-      assert Enum.find(included, fn i -> i[:type] == "user" && i[:id] == "4" end)[:attributes][
-               "last-name"
-             ] == "bronds"
+      author4 = Enum.find(included, fn i -> i[:type] == "user" && i[:id] == "4" end)
+      assert author4 != nil
+      assert author4[:attributes]["last-name"] == "bronds"
 
       assert List.first(relationships["best-comments"][:data])[:id] == "5"
 
@@ -624,6 +631,56 @@ defmodule JSONAPI.SerializerTest do
     end
   end
 
+  describe "when configured to dasherize fields non-recursively" do
+    setup do
+      Application.put_env(:jsonapi, :field_transformation, :dasherize_shallow)
+
+      on_exit(fn ->
+        Application.delete_env(:jsonapi, :field_transformation)
+      end)
+
+      {:ok, []}
+    end
+
+    test "serialize properly dasherizes attribute and relationship keys only" do
+      data = %{
+        id: 1,
+        text: "Hello",
+        inserted_at: NaiveDateTime.utc_now(),
+        body: %{data: "Some data", data_attr: "foo"},
+        full_description: "This_is_my_description",
+        author: %{
+          id: 2,
+          username: "jbonds",
+          first_name: %{data: "jerry", data_attr: "foo"},
+          last_name: "bonds"
+        },
+        best_comments: [
+          %{
+            id: 5,
+            text: %{data: "greatest comment ever", data_attr: "foo"},
+            user: %{id: 4, username: "jack", last_name: "bronds"}
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+
+      encoded = Serializer.serialize(PostView, data, nil)
+
+      attributes = encoded[:data][:attributes]
+      included = encoded[:included]
+
+      assert attributes["full-description"] == data[:full_description]
+      assert attributes["body"]["data_attr"] == "foo"
+      assert attributes["inserted-at"] == data[:inserted_at]
+
+      author = Enum.find(included, &(&1[:type] == "user" && &1[:id] == "2"))
+      assert author != nil
+      assert author[:attributes]["last-name"] == "bonds"
+      assert author[:attributes]["first-name"]["data"] == "jerry"
+      assert author[:attributes]["first-name"]["data_attr"] == "foo"
+    end
+  end
+
   test "serialize does not merge `included` if not configured" do
     data = %{
       id: 1,