diff --git a/core/xml.js b/core/xml.js
index d8b2cd61d..da6595aa6 100644
--- a/core/xml.js
+++ b/core/xml.js
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ goog.require('goog.dom');
  */
 Blockly.Xml.workspaceToDom = function(workspace, opt_noId) {
   var xml = goog.dom.createDom('xml');
+  xml.appendChild(Blockly.Xml.variablesToDom(workspace.getAllVariables()));
   var blocks = workspace.getTopBlocks(true);
   for (var i = 0, block; block = blocks[i]; i++) {
     xml.appendChild(Blockly.Xml.blockToDomWithXY(block, opt_noId));
@@ -49,6 +50,23 @@ Blockly.Xml.workspaceToDom = function(workspace, opt_noId) {
   return xml;
 };
 
+/**
+ * Encode a list of variables as XML.
+ * @param {!Array.<!Blockly.VariableModel>} variableList List of all variable
+ *     models.
+ * @return {!Element} List of XML elements.
+ */
+Blockly.Xml.variablesToDom = function(variableList) {
+  var variables = goog.dom.createDom('variables');
+  for (var i = 0, variable; variable = variableList[i]; i++) {
+    var element = goog.dom.createDom('variable', null, variable.name);
+    element.setAttribute('type', variable.type);
+    element.setAttribute('id', variable.getId());
+    variables.appendChild(element);
+  }
+  return variables;
+};
+
 /**
  * Encode a block subtree as XML with XY coordinates.
  * @param {!Blockly.Block} block The root block to encode.
diff --git a/tests/jsunit/xml_test.js b/tests/jsunit/xml_test.js
index e0db19c28..a118413ba 100644
--- a/tests/jsunit/xml_test.js
+++ b/tests/jsunit/xml_test.js
@@ -52,10 +52,13 @@ var XML_TEXT = ['<xml xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">',
   '  </block>',
   '</xml>'].join('\n');
 
-
-function xmlTest_setUpWithMockBlocks() {
+function xmlTest_setUp() {
   workspace = new Blockly.Workspace();
   mockControl_ = new goog.testing.MockControl();
+}
+
+function xmlTest_setUpWithMockBlocks() {
+  xmlTest_setUp();
   // Need to define this because field_variable's dropdownCreate() calls replace
   // on undefined value, Blockly.Msg.DELETE_VARIABLE. To fix this, define
   // Blockly.Msg.DELETE_VARIABLE as %1 so the replace function finds the %1 it
@@ -63,9 +66,13 @@ function xmlTest_setUpWithMockBlocks() {
   Blockly.Msg.DELETE_VARIABLE = '%1';
 }
 
-function xmlTest_tearDownWithMockBlocks() {
+function xmlTest_tearDown() {
   mockControl_.$tearDown();
   workspace.dispose();
+}
+
+function xmlTest_tearDownWithMockBlocks() {
+  xmlTest_tearDown();
   delete Blockly.Blocks.field_variable_test_block;
   Blockly.Msg.DELETE_VARIABLE = saved_msg;
 }
@@ -91,13 +98,26 @@ function xmlTest_checkNonVariableField(fieldDom, name, text) {
  * @param {!string} id The expected id of the variable.
  * @param {!string} text The expected text of the variable.
  */
-function xmlTest_checkVariableDomValues(fieldDom, name, type, id, text) {
+function xmlTest_checkVariableFieldDomValues(fieldDom, name, type, id, text) {
   assertEquals(name, fieldDom.getAttribute('name'));
   assertEquals(type, fieldDom.getAttribute('variableType'));
   assertEquals(id, fieldDom.getAttribute('id'));
   assertEquals(text, fieldDom.textContent);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Check the values of the variable DOM.
+ * @param {!Element} variableDom The xml dom of the variable.
+ * @param {!string} type The expected type of the variable.
+ * @param {!string} id The expected id of the variable.
+ * @param {!string} text The expected text of the variable.
+ */
+function xmlTest_checkVariableDomValues(variableDom, type, id, text) {
+  assertEquals(type, variableDom.getAttribute('type'));
+  assertEquals(id, variableDom.getAttribute('id'));
+  assertEquals(text, variableDom.textContent);
+}
+
 function test_textToDom() {
   var dom = Blockly.Xml.textToDom(XML_TEXT);
   assertEquals('XML tag', 'xml', dom.nodeName);
@@ -191,7 +211,7 @@ function test_blockToDom_fieldToDom_trivial() {
   var block = new Blockly.Block(workspace, 'field_variable_test_block');
   block.inputList[0].fieldRow[0].setValue('name1');
   var resultFieldDom = Blockly.Xml.blockToDom(block).childNodes[0];
-  xmlTest_checkVariableDomValues(resultFieldDom, 'VAR', 'type1', 'id1', 'name1')
+  xmlTest_checkVariableFieldDomValues(resultFieldDom, 'VAR', 'type1', 'id1', 'name1')
   xmlTest_tearDownWithMockBlocks()
 }
 
@@ -216,7 +236,7 @@ function test_blockToDom_fieldToDom_defaultCase() {
   block.inputList[0].fieldRow[0].setValue('name1');
   var resultFieldDom = Blockly.Xml.blockToDom(block).childNodes[0];
   // Expect type is '' and id is '1' since we don't specify type and id.
-  xmlTest_checkVariableDomValues(resultFieldDom, 'VAR', '', '1', 'name1')
+  xmlTest_checkVariableFieldDomValues(resultFieldDom, 'VAR', '', '1', 'name1')
   xmlTest_tearDownWithMockBlocks()
 }
 
@@ -239,3 +259,55 @@ function test_blockToDom_fieldToDom_notAFieldVariable() {
   delete Blockly.Blocks.field_angle_block;
   xmlTest_tearDownWithMockBlocks()
 }
+
+function test_variablesToDom_oneVariable() {
+  xmlTest_setUp();
+  var mockGenUid = mockControl_.createMethodMock(Blockly.utils, 'genUid');
+  mockGenUid().$returns('1');
+  mockGenUid().$replay();
+
+  workspace.createVariable('name1');
+  var resultDom = Blockly.Xml.variablesToDom(workspace.getAllVariables());
+  assertEquals(1, resultDom.children.length);
+  var resultVariableDom = resultDom.children[0];
+  assertEquals('name1', resultVariableDom.textContent);
+  assertEquals('', resultVariableDom.getAttribute('type'));
+  assertEquals('1', resultVariableDom.getAttribute('id'));
+  xmlTest_tearDown();
+}
+
+function test_variablesToDom_twoVariables_oneBlock() {
+   Blockly.defineBlocksWithJsonArray([{
+    'type': 'field_variable_test_block',
+    'message0': '%1',
+    'args0': [
+      {
+        'type': 'field_variable',
+        'name': 'VAR',
+        'variable': 'item'
+      }
+    ],
+  }]);
+  xmlTest_setUpWithMockBlocks();
+
+  workspace.createVariable('name1', 'type1', 'id1');
+  workspace.createVariable('name2', 'type2', 'id2');
+  var block = new Blockly.Block(workspace, 'field_variable_test_block');
+  block.inputList[0].fieldRow[0].setValue('name1');
+
+  var resultDom = Blockly.Xml.variablesToDom(workspace.getAllVariables());
+  assertEquals(2, resultDom.children.length);
+  xmlTest_checkVariableDomValues(resultDom.children[0], 'type1', 'id1',
+      'name1');
+  xmlTest_checkVariableDomValues(resultDom.children[1], 'type2', 'id2',
+      'name2');
+  xmlTest_tearDownWithMockBlocks();
+}
+
+function test_variablesToDom_noVariables() {
+  xmlTest_setUp();
+  workspace.createVariable('name1');
+  var resultDom = Blockly.Xml.variablesToDom(workspace.getAllVariables());
+  assertEquals(0, resultDom.children.length);
+  xmlTest_tearDown();
+}