diff --git a/pystache/context.py b/pystache/context.py
index 67159160..7ceeffea 100644
--- a/pystache/context.py
+++ b/pystache/context.py
@@ -7,13 +7,21 @@
 stack elements: hashes and objects.  For the purposes of interpreting the
 spec, we define these categories mutually exclusively as follows:
 
- (1) Hash: an item whose type is a subclass of dict.
+ (1) Hash: an item whose type is a subclass of collections.Mapping.
+
+    .. note::
+
+        collections.Mapping is used instead of a dict in order to allow other
+        mapping types to be valid contexts. See 
+        `Issue 144 <https://github.com/defunkt/pystache/pull/144>`
 
  (2) Object: an item that is neither a hash nor an instance of a
      built-in type.
 
 """
 
+import collections
+
 from pystache.common import PystacheError
 
 
@@ -43,8 +51,11 @@ def _get_value(context, key):
     The ContextStack.get() docstring documents this function's intended behavior.
 
     """
-    if isinstance(context, dict):
+    if isinstance(context, collections.Mapping):
         # Then we consider the argument a "hash" for the purposes of the spec.
+        # Using collections.Mapping allows other mapping types to be registered 
+        # as valid "hash" contexts. See 
+        # `Issue 144 <https://github.com/defunkt/pystache/pull/144>`
         #
         # We do a membership test to avoid using exceptions for flow control
         # (e.g. catching KeyError).
diff --git a/pystache/tests/test_context.py b/pystache/tests/test_context.py
index 238e4b00..a7de6333 100644
--- a/pystache/tests/test_context.py
+++ b/pystache/tests/test_context.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 from datetime import datetime
 import unittest
+import collections
 
 from pystache.context import _NOT_FOUND, _get_value, KeyNotFoundError, ContextStack
 from pystache.tests.common import AssertIsMixin, AssertStringMixin, AssertExceptionMixin, Attachable
@@ -102,6 +103,51 @@ class DictSubclass(dict): pass
 
         self.assertEqual(_get_value(item, "foo"), "bar")
 
+    def test_dictionary__mapping_implementation(self):
+        """
+        Test that registered implementations of collections.Mapping are treated as dictionaries.
+
+        See https://github.com/defunkt/pystache/pull/144
+
+        """
+        class MappingSubclass(collections.Mapping):
+
+            def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                self._mapping = dict(*args, **kwargs)
+                super(MappingSubclass, self).__init__()
+
+            def __getitem__(self, key):
+                return self._mapping[key]
+
+            def __iter__(self):
+                return iter(self._mapping)
+
+            def __len__(self):
+                return len(self._mapping)
+
+        class RegisteredMapping(object):
+
+            def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+                self._mapping = dict(*args, **kwargs)
+                super(RegisteredMapping, self).__init__()
+
+            def __getitem__(self, key):
+                return self._mapping[key]
+
+            def __iter__(self):
+                return iter(self._mapping)
+
+            def __len__(self):
+                return len(self._mapping)
+
+        collections.Mapping.register(RegisteredMapping)
+
+        item = MappingSubclass(foo="bar")
+        self.assertEqual(_get_value(item, "foo"), "bar")
+
+        item = RegisteredMapping(foo="bar")
+        self.assertEqual(_get_value(item, "foo"), "bar")
+
     ### Case: the item is an object.
 
     def test_object__attribute_present(self):