diff --git a/openssl/src/bn.rs b/openssl/src/bn.rs
index 78684d0a..ab5f7769 100644
--- a/openssl/src/bn.rs
+++ b/openssl/src/bn.rs
@@ -23,16 +23,7 @@ pub enum RNGProperty {
     TwoMsbOne = 1,
 }
 
-/// A context object for `BigNum` operations.
-pub struct BnCtx(*mut ffi::BN_CTX);
-
-impl Drop for BnCtx {
-    fn drop(&mut self) {
-        unsafe {
-            ffi::BN_CTX_free(self.0);
-        }
-    }
-}
+type_!(BnCtx, ffi::BN_CTX, ffi::BN_CTX_free);
 
 impl BnCtx {
     /// Returns a new `BnCtx`.
@@ -40,10 +31,6 @@ impl BnCtx {
         unsafe { cvt_p(ffi::BN_CTX_new()).map(BnCtx) }
     }
 
-    pub fn as_ptr(&self) -> *mut ffi::BN_CTX {
-        self.0
-    }
-
     /// Places the result of `a * b` in `r`.
     pub fn mul(&mut self,
                r: &mut BigNumRef,
diff --git a/openssl/src/lib.rs b/openssl/src/lib.rs
index f335c097..8fa53f3b 100644
--- a/openssl/src/lib.rs
+++ b/openssl/src/lib.rs
@@ -20,6 +20,44 @@ use libc::c_int;
 
 use error::ErrorStack;
 
+macro_rules! type_ {
+    ($n:ident, $c:path, $d:path) => {
+        pub struct $n(*mut $c);
+
+        unsafe impl ::types::OpenSslType for $n {
+            type CType = $c;
+
+            unsafe fn from_ptr(ptr: *mut $c) -> $n {
+                $n(ptr)
+            }
+
+            fn as_ptr(&self) -> *mut $c {
+                self.0
+            }
+        }
+
+        impl Drop for $n {
+            fn drop(&mut self) {
+                unsafe { $d(self.0) }
+            }
+        }
+
+        impl ::std::ops::Deref for $n {
+            type Target = ::types::Ref<$n>;
+
+            fn deref(&self) -> &::types::Ref<$n> {
+                unsafe { ::types::Ref::from_ptr(self.0) }
+            }
+        }
+
+        impl ::std::ops::DerefMut for $n {
+            fn deref_mut(&mut self) -> &mut ::types::Ref<$n> {
+                unsafe { ::types::Ref::from_ptr_mut(self.0) }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 mod bio;
 mod opaque;
 mod util;
@@ -37,6 +75,7 @@ pub mod pkcs12;
 pub mod pkcs5;
 pub mod pkey;
 pub mod rand;
+pub mod types;
 pub mod rsa;
 pub mod sign;
 pub mod ssl;
diff --git a/openssl/src/types.rs b/openssl/src/types.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..16829ea4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/openssl/src/types.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+use std::marker::PhantomData;
+
+use opaque::Opaque;
+
+pub unsafe trait OpenSslType {
+    type CType;
+
+    unsafe fn from_ptr(ptr: *mut Self::CType) -> Self;
+
+    fn as_ptr(&self) -> *mut Self::CType;
+}
+
+pub struct Ref<T>(Opaque, PhantomData<T>);
+
+impl<T: OpenSslType> Ref<T> {
+    pub unsafe fn from_ptr<'a>(ptr: *mut T::CType) -> &'a Ref<T> {
+        &*(ptr as *mut _)
+    }
+
+    pub unsafe fn from_ptr_mut<'a>(ptr: *mut T::CType) -> &'a mut Ref<T> {
+        &mut *(ptr as *mut _)
+    }
+
+    pub fn as_ptr(&self) -> *mut T::CType {
+        self as *const _ as *mut _
+    }
+}