diff --git a/packages/keyring/src/index.spec.ts b/packages/keyring/src/index.spec.ts
index 2ff56620e..954138c60 100644
--- a/packages/keyring/src/index.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/keyring/src/index.spec.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
 // Copyright 2017-2021 @polkadot/keyring authors & contributors
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-import { hexToU8a, stringToU8a } from '@polkadot/util';
-import { cryptoWaitReady, encodeAddress, randomAsU8a, setSS58Format } from '@polkadot/util-crypto';
+import type { KeyringPair$Json } from './types';
 
+import { hexToU8a, stringToU8a } from '@polkadot/util';
+import { base64Decode, cryptoWaitReady, encodeAddress, randomAsU8a, setSS58Format } from '@polkadot/util-crypto';
+
+import { decodePair } from './pair/decode';
 import Keyring from '.';
 
 describe('keypair', (): void => {
@@ -429,6 +432,30 @@ describe('keypair', (): void => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('raw pair add/create', (): void => {
+    const json = JSON.parse('{"address":"5PjeoaQzCoYbSi42aQRKB3Sx18StCaEAzCbGEEbWbZyfKS3H","encoded":"JQUl8ZpoXv2OMkL9TPylLmcIye2cYhaS9INICbFgZTsAgAAAAQAAAAgAAAAr/0hJOOzokIdBG71TstigLABX9D5xGD7L37ySxtjDrVRg26LL90jLQ47quT9o3bq6ppXMVL6USk7Q4p3WU66bojTFuCDyhpYRhNbUqU6s0rD3S4bhv9lG+pG9vQ4eD5PVQUvxdANmJpYuDg45nrTmsMC5AHGdFGkHW/LHnkmbFid1cvPYkdiBoef5CIEdoly512pxMupVxnJWF1NT","encoding":{"content":["pkcs8","sr25519"],"type":["scrypt","xsalsa20-poly1305"],"version":"3"},"meta":{"name":"hello"}}') as KeyringPair$Json;
+    const decoded = decodePair('1', base64Decode(json.encoded), json.encoding.type);
+    const keyring = new Keyring({ ss58Format: 44 });
+
+    it('creates a pair from a private/public combo', (): void => {
+      const pair = keyring.createFromPair(decoded, json.meta, 'sr25519');
+
+      expect(pair.address).toEqual('5PjeoaQzCoYbSi42aQRKB3Sx18StCaEAzCbGEEbWbZyfKS3H');
+      expect(pair.isLocked).toEqual(false);
+      expect(pair.meta.name).toEqual('hello');
+    });
+
+    it('adds a pair from a private/public combo', (): void => {
+      keyring.addFromPair(decoded, json.meta, 'sr25519');
+
+      const pair = keyring.getPairs()[0];
+
+      expect(pair.address).toEqual('5PjeoaQzCoYbSi42aQRKB3Sx18StCaEAzCbGEEbWbZyfKS3H');
+      expect(pair.isLocked).toEqual(false);
+      expect(pair.meta.name).toEqual('hello');
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('util', (): void => {
     let keyring: Keyring;
 
diff --git a/packages/keyring/src/keyring.ts b/packages/keyring/src/keyring.ts
index b0968c866..b7b38907f 100644
--- a/packages/keyring/src/keyring.ts
+++ b/packages/keyring/src/keyring.ts
@@ -120,6 +120,16 @@ export class Keyring implements KeyringInstance {
     return this.addFromUri(mnemonic, meta, type);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @name addFromPair
+   * @summary Stores an account created from an explicit publicKey/secreteKey combination
+   */
+  public addFromPair (pair: Keypair, meta: KeyringPair$Meta = {}, type: KeypairType = this.type): KeyringPair {
+    return this.addPair(
+      this.createFromPair(pair, meta, type)
+    );
+  }
+
   /**
    * @name addFromSeed
    * @summary Stores an account, given seed data, as a Key/Value (public key, pair) in Keyring Pair Dictionary
@@ -128,7 +138,9 @@ export class Keyring implements KeyringInstance {
    * `addPair` to store in a keyring pair dictionary the public key of the generated pair as a key and the pair as the associated value.
    */
   public addFromSeed (seed: Uint8Array, meta: KeyringPair$Meta = {}, type: KeypairType = this.type): KeyringPair {
-    return this.addPair(createPair({ toSS58: this.encodeAddress, type }, keypairFromSeed[type](seed), meta, null));
+    return this.addPair(
+      createPair({ toSS58: this.encodeAddress, type }, keypairFromSeed[type](seed), meta, null)
+    );
   }
 
   /**
@@ -169,6 +181,14 @@ export class Keyring implements KeyringInstance {
     return createPair({ toSS58: this.encodeAddress, type: cryptoType as KeypairType }, { publicKey, secretKey: new Uint8Array() }, meta, decoded, encType);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * @name createFromPair
+   * @summary Creates a pair from an explicit publicKey/secreteKey combination
+   */
+  public createFromPair (pair: Keypair, meta: KeyringPair$Meta = {}, type: KeypairType = this.type): KeyringPair {
+    return createPair({ toSS58: this.encodeAddress, type }, pair, meta, null);
+  }
+
   /**
    * @name createFromUri
    * @summary Creates a Keypair from an suri
diff --git a/packages/keyring/src/pair/decode.ts b/packages/keyring/src/pair/decode.ts
index e2f85a38e..184c3cb99 100644
--- a/packages/keyring/src/pair/decode.ts
+++ b/packages/keyring/src/pair/decode.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import type { EncryptedJsonEncoding } from '@polkadot/util-crypto/json/types';
 import type { PairInfo } from './types';
 
-import { assert, u8aEq } from '@polkadot/util';
+import { assert, isUndefined, u8aEq } from '@polkadot/util';
 import { jsonDecryptData } from '@polkadot/util-crypto';
 
 import { PKCS8_DIVIDER, PKCS8_HEADER, PUB_LENGTH, SEC_LENGTH, SEED_LENGTH } from './defaults';
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ type DecodeResult = PairInfo & {
   secretKey: Uint8Array;
 };
 
-export function decodePair (passphrase?: string, encrypted?: Uint8Array | null, encType?: EncryptedJsonEncoding[]): DecodeResult {
+export function decodePair (passphrase?: string, encrypted?: Uint8Array | null, _encType?: EncryptedJsonEncoding | EncryptedJsonEncoding[]): DecodeResult {
+  const encType = Array.isArray(_encType) || isUndefined(_encType)
+    ? _encType
+    : [_encType];
   const decrypted = jsonDecryptData(encrypted, passphrase, encType);
   const header = decrypted.subarray(0, PKCS8_HEADER.length);
 
diff --git a/packages/keyring/src/types.ts b/packages/keyring/src/types.ts
index 98a716466..30c09fac4 100644
--- a/packages/keyring/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/keyring/src/types.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 import type { Prefix } from '@polkadot/util-crypto/address/types';
 import type { EncryptedJson } from '@polkadot/util-crypto/json/types';
-import type { KeypairType } from '@polkadot/util-crypto/types';
+import type { Keypair, KeypairType } from '@polkadot/util-crypto/types';
 
 export interface KeyringOptions {
   ss58Format?: Prefix;
@@ -62,9 +62,11 @@ export interface KeyringInstance {
   addFromAddress (address: string | Uint8Array, meta?: KeyringPair$Meta, encoded?: Uint8Array | null, type?: KeypairType, ignoreChecksum?: boolean): KeyringPair;
   addFromJson (pair: KeyringPair$Json, ignoreChecksum?: boolean): KeyringPair;
   addFromMnemonic (mnemonic: string, meta?: KeyringPair$Meta, type?: KeypairType): KeyringPair;
+  addFromPair (pair: Keypair, meta?: KeyringPair$Meta, type?: KeypairType): KeyringPair
   addFromSeed (seed: Uint8Array, meta?: KeyringPair$Meta, type?: KeypairType): KeyringPair;
   addFromUri (suri: string, meta?: KeyringPair$Meta, type?: KeypairType): KeyringPair;
   createFromJson (json: KeyringPair$Json, ignoreChecksum?: boolean): KeyringPair;
+  createFromPair (pair: Keypair, meta: KeyringPair$Meta, type: KeypairType): KeyringPair
   createFromUri (suri: string, meta?: KeyringPair$Meta, type?: KeypairType): KeyringPair;
   getPair (address: string | Uint8Array): KeyringPair;
   getPairs (): KeyringPair[];