diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 9275fad..a3e145b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,2 @@
 Gemfile.lock
 pkg
-
-test/fixtures/export.yml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/classifier-reborn/bayes.rb b/lib/classifier-reborn/bayes.rb
index 9ce3459..3107e4b 100644
--- a/lib/classifier-reborn/bayes.rb
+++ b/lib/classifier-reborn/bayes.rb
@@ -210,17 +210,31 @@ def add_category(category)
 
     alias_method :append_category, :add_category
 
-    # Read the yaml_data_file and populate the classifier
-    def self.import!(file_path)
-      data = File.read(file_path)
-      YAML.load(data)
-    end
-
-    # Writes a file by calling #to_yaml on self
-    def export(file_path)
-      yaml = to_yaml
-      File.open(file_path, 'w') { |f| f.write(yaml) }
-      yaml
+    # Read the data and populate the backend in use
+    def import!(data)
+      @auto_categorize = data[:auto_categorize]
+      @categories = data[:categories]
+      @category_counts = data[:category_counts]
+      @category_word_count = data[:category_word_count]
+      @enable_stemmer = data[:enable_stemmer]
+      @enable_threshold = data[:enable_threshold]
+      @language = data[:language]
+      @threshold = data[:threshold]
+      @total_words = data[:total_words]
+    end
+
+    def export
+      {
+        auto_categorize: @auto_categorize,
+        categories: @categories,
+        category_counts: @category_counts,
+        category_word_count: @category_word_count,
+        enable_stemmer: @enable_stemmer,
+        enable_threshold: @enable_threshold,
+        language: @language,
+        threshold: @threshold,
+        total_words: @total_words
+      }
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/bayes/bayesian_test.rb b/test/bayes/bayesian_test.rb
index 1b8c832..ab09236 100755
--- a/test/bayes/bayesian_test.rb
+++ b/test/bayes/bayesian_test.rb
@@ -129,13 +129,15 @@ def test_export
                                    most lacks the idealization"
     @classifier.train_uninteresting %"Grasslands such as savannah and prairie where grasses are dominant are 
                                     estimated to constitute forty percent of the land area of the Earth"
-    yaml = @classifier.export('test/fixtures/export.yml')
-    reference_file = File.read('test/fixtures/reference.yml')
-    assert_equal(yaml, reference_file)
+    exported_data = @classifier.export
+    reference_data = YAML.load(File.read('test/fixtures/reference.yml'))
+    assert_equal(exported_data, reference_data)
   end
 
   def test_import
-    classifier = ClassifierReborn::Bayes.import!('test/fixtures/reference.yml')
+    classifier = ClassifierReborn::Bayes.new
+    reference_data = YAML.load(File.read('test/fixtures/reference.yml'))
+    classifier.import!(reference_data)
     assert_equal('Interesting', classifier.classify('Dutch painting of the Golden Age'))
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/fixtures/reference.yml b/test/fixtures/reference.yml
index 1519826..9ed3c40 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/reference.yml
+++ b/test/fixtures/reference.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
---- !ruby/object:ClassifierReborn::Bayes
-categories:
+---
+:auto_categorize: false
+:categories:
   :Interesting:
     :dutch: 1
     :paint: 2
@@ -33,15 +34,14 @@ categories:
     :land: 1
     :area: 1
     :earth: 1
-total_words: 32
-category_counts:
+:category_counts:
   :Interesting: 1
   :Uninteresting: 1
-category_word_count:
+:category_word_count:
   :Interesting: 18
   :Uninteresting: 14
-language: en
-auto_categorize: false
-enable_threshold: false
-threshold: 0.0
-enable_stemmer: true
+:enable_stemmer: true
+:enable_threshold: false
+:language: en
+:threshold: 0.0
+:total_words: 32