diff --git a/AFNetworking/AFURLConnectionOperation.h b/AFNetworking/AFURLConnectionOperation.h
index 6a17080..b23c6b6 100644
--- a/AFNetworking/AFURLConnectionOperation.h
+++ b/AFNetworking/AFURLConnectionOperation.h
@@ -73,6 +73,20 @@ extern NSString * const AFNetworkingOperationDidFinishNotification;
  
  @warning Subclasses are strongly discouraged from overriding `setCompletionBlock:`, as `AFURLConnectionOperation`'s implementation includes a workaround to mitigate retain cycles, and what Apple rather ominously refers to as "The Deallocation Problem" (See http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/technotes/tn2109/_index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/DTS40010274-CH1-SUBSECTION11)
  
+ ## NSCoding & NSCopying Conformance
+ 
+ `AFURLConnectionOperation` conforms to the `NSCoding` and `NSCopying` protocols, allowing operations to be archived to disk, and copied in memory, respectively. However, because of the intrinsic limitations of capturing the exact state of an operation at a particular moment, there are some important caveats to keep in mind:
+ 
+ ### NSCoding Caveats
+ 
+ - Encoded operations do not include any block properties. Be sure to set `completionBlock` and any other callback blocks as necessary when using `-initWithCoder:` or `NSKeyedUnarchiver`, for example.
+ - Operations are paused on `encodeWithCoder:`. If the operation was encoded while paused or still executing, its archived state will return `YES` for `isReady`. Otherwise, the state of an operation when encoding will remain unchanged.
+ 
+ ### NSCopying Caveats
+ 
+ - `-copy` and `-copyWithZone:` return a new operation with the `NSURLRequest` of the original. So rather than an exact copy of the operation at that particular instant, the copying mechanism returns a completely new instance, which can be useful for retrying operations.
+ - Operation copies do not include `completionBlock`, but do include any other callback blocks of the original. `completionBlock` often strongly captures a reference to `self`, which, perhaps surprisingly, would otherwise point to the _original_ operation when copied.
+ 
  @warning Attempting to load a `file://` URL in iOS 4 may result in an `NSInvalidArgumentException`, caused by the connection returning `NSURLResponse` rather than `NSHTTPURLResponse`, which is the behavior as of iOS 5.
  */
 @interface AFURLConnectionOperation : NSOperation <NSCoding, NSCopying>
diff --git a/AFNetworking/AFURLConnectionOperation.m b/AFNetworking/AFURLConnectionOperation.m
index 76b6b9f..d66af7a 100644
--- a/AFNetworking/AFURLConnectionOperation.m
+++ b/AFNetworking/AFURLConnectionOperation.m
@@ -608,13 +608,10 @@ didReceiveResponse:(NSURLResponse *)response
 
 - (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder {
     NSURLRequest *request = [aDecoder decodeObjectForKey:@"request"];
-    
-    self = [self initWithRequest:request];
-    if (!self) {
+    if (!request || ![self initWithRequest:request]) {
         return nil;
     }
-    
-    self.runLoopModes = [aDecoder decodeObjectForKey:@"runLoopModes"];
+
     self.state = [aDecoder decodeIntegerForKey:@"state"];
     self.cancelled = [aDecoder decodeBoolForKey:@"isCancelled"];
     self.response = [aDecoder decodeObjectForKey:@"response"];
@@ -628,7 +625,6 @@ didReceiveResponse:(NSURLResponse *)response
 - (void)encodeWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aCoder {
     [self pause];
     
-    [aCoder encodeObject:self.runLoopModes forKey:@"runLoopModes"];
     [aCoder encodeObject:self.request forKey:@"request"];
 
     switch (self.state) {
@@ -652,16 +648,14 @@ didReceiveResponse:(NSURLResponse *)response
 
 - (id)copyWithZone:(NSZone *)zone {
     AFURLConnectionOperation *operation = [[[self class] allocWithZone:zone] initWithRequest:self.request];
-    
-    operation.runLoopModes = [self.runLoopModes copyWithZone:zone];
-    
-    operation.uploadProgress = [self.uploadProgress copy];
-    operation.downloadProgress = [self.downloadProgress copy];
-    operation.authenticationAgainstProtectionSpace = [self.authenticationAgainstProtectionSpace copy];
-    operation.authenticationChallenge = [self.authenticationChallenge copy];
-    operation.cacheResponse = [self.cacheResponse copy];
-    operation.redirectResponse = [self.redirectResponse copy];
-    
+            
+    operation.uploadProgress = self.uploadProgress;
+    operation.downloadProgress = self.downloadProgress;
+    operation.authenticationAgainstProtectionSpace = self.authenticationAgainstProtectionSpace;
+    operation.authenticationChallenge = self.authenticationChallenge;
+    operation.cacheResponse = self.cacheResponse;
+    operation.redirectResponse = self.redirectResponse;
+
     return operation;
 }