diff --git a/unmarshal.go b/unmarshal.go
index dc44635..2c6aa68 100644
--- a/unmarshal.go
+++ b/unmarshal.go
@@ -552,12 +552,12 @@ func unmarshal(e interface{}, in []byte) (n int, err error) {
 	var key string
 	t := reflect.TypeOf(e)
 	v := reflect.ValueOf(e)
-	if t.Kind() != reflect.Ptr || v.IsNil() {
+	if !v.IsValid() || t.Kind() != reflect.Ptr || v.IsNil() {
 		return 0, errors.New("ssob: Need a pointer that is fully allocated for unmarshalling")
 	}
 
 	p := reflect.Indirect(v)
-	if p.Kind() != reflect.Ptr {
+	if p.Kind() != reflect.Ptr && p.Kind() != reflect.Interface {
 		switch p.Kind() {
 		case reflect.Bool, reflect.Int8, reflect.Int16, reflect.Int32,
 			reflect.Int64, reflect.Uint8, reflect.Uint16, reflect.Uint32,