diff --git a/bson/bson.go b/bson/bson.go
index ac1c02c7f..579aec13f 100644
--- a/bson/bson.go
+++ b/bson/bson.go
@@ -627,7 +627,7 @@ func getStructInfo(st reflect.Type) (*structInfo, error) {
 	inlineMap := -1
 	for i := 0; i != n; i++ {
 		field := st.Field(i)
-		if field.PkgPath != "" {
+		if field.PkgPath != "" && !field.Anonymous {
 			continue // Private field
 		}
 
diff --git a/bson/encode.go b/bson/encode.go
index 36eb29ce6..c228e28d3 100644
--- a/bson/encode.go
+++ b/bson/encode.go
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ func isZero(v reflect.Value) bool {
 			return v.Interface().(time.Time).IsZero()
 		}
 		for i := 0; i < v.NumField(); i++ {
-			if vt.Field(i).PkgPath != "" {
+			if vt.Field(i).PkgPath != "" && !vt.Field(i).Anonymous {
 				continue // Private field
 			}
 			if !isZero(v.Field(i)) {