diff --git a/cloudpickle/cloudpickle.py b/cloudpickle/cloudpickle.py
index c92b2eac4..cd6bd2faa 100644
--- a/cloudpickle/cloudpickle.py
+++ b/cloudpickle/cloudpickle.py
@@ -642,10 +642,34 @@ def save_dynamic_class(self, obj):
                 for k in obj.__slots__:
                     clsdict.pop(k, None)
 
-        # If type overrides __dict__ as a property, include it in the type
-        # kwargs. In Python 2, we can't set this attribute after construction.
+        # A class __dict__ is part of the class state. At unpickling time, it
+        # must be *initialized* (in an empty state)  during class creation and
+        # updated during class re-hydratation.
+        # However, a class __dict__ is read-only, and does not support direct
+        # item assignement. Instead, the way to update a class __dict__  is to
+        # call setattr(klass, k, v) on the underlying class, which has the same
+        # effect.
+        # There is one corner case: if the __dict__ class has itself a
+        # "__dict__" key (this means that the class likely overrides the
+        # __dict__ property of its instances), setattr(klass, "__dict__", v) will try
+        # to modify the read-only class __dict__ instead, and fail. As a
+        # result, if it exists, the class __dict__ must contain its __dict__
+        # item when it is initialized and fed to the class reconstructor.
         __dict__ = clsdict.pop('__dict__', None)
-        if isinstance(__dict__, property):
+
+        # As __dict__ is part of obj's reconstructor args, __dict__ will be
+        # saved before obj is memoized. Thus, we must make sure that cyclic
+        # references between __dict__ and obj will not trigger infinite
+        # recursion, i.e that __dict__ is memoized before its populated with
+        # obj. If __dict__ is a dict, references to obj inside __dict__ are
+        # safe. But if __dict__ is not overriden, it is a getset_descriptor
+        # that contains an unsafe reference to obj, and we must not save it.
+        # Because non-overriden __dict__ attributes will be generated
+        # automatically at class reconstruction anyways, no information is
+        # lost.
+        if (__dict__ is not None and
+                not isinstance(__dict__, types.GetSetDescriptorType) and
+                getattr(__dict__, '__objclass__', None) is not obj):
             type_kwargs['__dict__'] = __dict__
 
         save = self.save
diff --git a/cloudpickle/cloudpickle_fast.py b/cloudpickle/cloudpickle_fast.py
index dfe554d62..5e4a20a31 100644
--- a/cloudpickle/cloudpickle_fast.py
+++ b/cloudpickle/cloudpickle_fast.py
@@ -72,7 +72,8 @@ def _class_getnewargs(obj):
         type_kwargs["__slots__"] = obj.__slots__
 
     __dict__ = obj.__dict__.get('__dict__', None)
-    if isinstance(__dict__, property):
+    if (not isinstance(__dict__, types.GetSetDescriptorType) and
+            getattr(__dict__, '__objclass__', None) is not obj):
         type_kwargs['__dict__'] = __dict__
 
     return (type(obj), obj.__name__, obj.__bases__, type_kwargs,
@@ -153,7 +154,7 @@ def _class_getstate(obj):
             for k in obj.__slots__:
                 clsdict.pop(k, None)
 
-    clsdict.pop('__dict__', None)  # unpicklable property object
+    clsdict.pop('__dict__', None)  # specified in class reconstruction
 
     return (clsdict, {})
 
diff --git a/tests/cloudpickle_test.py b/tests/cloudpickle_test.py
index ec1d089bb..2a3df1310 100644
--- a/tests/cloudpickle_test.py
+++ b/tests/cloudpickle_test.py
@@ -1867,6 +1867,31 @@ def __getattr__(self, name):
         with pytest.raises(pickle.PicklingError, match='recursion'):
             cloudpickle.dumps(a)
 
+    def test___dict__attribute_not_dropped_during_pickling(self):
+        # Test https://github.com/cloudpipe/cloudpickle/issues/282. cloudpickle
+        # used to drop __dict__ attributes of classes at pickling time.
+        pickle_filename= os.path.join(self.tmpdir, 'class_with_dict.pkl')
+        _dict = {'some_attribute': 1}
+        class A(object):
+            __dict__ = _dict
+        a = A()
+        self.assertEqual(a.__dict__, _dict)
+
+        with open(pickle_filename, "wb") as f:
+            cloudpickle.dump(a, f, protocol=self.protocol)
+
+        # Check that the dynamic class defintion is fully reconstructed in a
+        # new Python subprocess and check the assertion that the content of the
+        # __dict__ attribute has the expected content there. Testing this in
+        # the main process is not enough because the existing class definition
+        # could have been reused directly.
+        child_process_script = """
+            import pickle
+            with open(r"{filename}", "rb") as f:
+                depickled_a = pickle.load(f)
+            assert depickled_a.__dict__ == {_dict}, depickled_a.__dict__
+        """.format(filename=pickle_filename, _dict=_dict)
+        assert_run_python_script(textwrap.dedent(child_process_script))
 
 class Protocol2CloudPickleTest(CloudPickleTest):