diff --git a/IPython/extensions/autoreload.py b/IPython/extensions/autoreload.py
index 4edd3b3..da9cc0e 100644
--- a/IPython/extensions/autoreload.py
+++ b/IPython/extensions/autoreload.py
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ import sys
 import traceback
 import types
 import weakref
+import inspect
 from importlib import import_module
 from importlib.util import source_from_cache
 from imp import reload
@@ -267,6 +268,58 @@ def update_function(old, new):
             pass
 
 
+def update_instances(old, new, objects=None, visited={}):
+    """Iterate through objects recursively, searching for instances of old and
+    replace their __class__ reference with new. If no objects are given, start 
+    with the current ipython workspace.
+    """
+    if objects is None:
+        # make sure visited is cleaned when not called recursively
+        visited = {}
+        # find ipython workspace stack frame
+        frame = next(frame_nfo.frame for frame_nfo in inspect.stack() 
+                     if 'trigger' in frame_nfo.function)
+        # build generator for non-private variable values from workspace
+        shell = frame.f_locals['self'].shell
+        user_ns = shell.user_ns
+        user_ns_hidden = shell.user_ns_hidden
+        nonmatching = object()
+        objects = ( value for key, value in user_ns.items()
+                if not key.startswith('_') 
+                and (value is not user_ns_hidden.get(key, nonmatching)) 
+                and not inspect.ismodule(value))
+    
+    # use dict values if objects is a dict but don't touch private variables
+    if hasattr(objects, 'items'):
+        objects = (value for key, value in objects.items()
+                       if not str(key).startswith('_')
+                       and not inspect.ismodule(value) )
+
+    # try if objects is iterable
+    try:
+        for obj in (obj for obj in objects if id(obj) not in visited):
+            # add current object to visited to avoid revisiting
+            visited.update({id(obj):obj})
+
+            # update, if object is instance of old_class (but no subclasses)
+            if type(obj) is old:
+                obj.__class__ = new
+                
+
+            # if object is instance of other class, look for nested instances
+            if hasattr(obj, '__dict__') and not (inspect.isfunction(obj)
+                                                 or inspect.ismethod(obj)):
+                update_instances(old, new, obj.__dict__, visited)
+
+            # if object is a container, search it
+            if hasattr(obj, 'items') or (hasattr(obj, '__contains__')
+                                         and not isinstance(obj, str)):
+                update_instances(old, new, obj, visited)
+
+    except TypeError:
+        pass
+
+
 def update_class(old, new):
     """Replace stuff in the __dict__ of a class, and upgrade
     method code objects, and add new methods, if any"""
@@ -300,6 +353,9 @@ def update_class(old, new):
             except (AttributeError, TypeError):
                 pass # skip non-writable attributes
 
+    # update all instances of class
+    update_instances(old, new)
+
 
 def update_property(old, new):
     """Replace get/set/del functions of a property"""
diff --git a/IPython/extensions/tests/test_autoreload.py b/IPython/extensions/tests/test_autoreload.py
index 74e0125..cb046d9 100644
--- a/IPython/extensions/tests/test_autoreload.py
+++ b/IPython/extensions/tests/test_autoreload.py
@@ -35,10 +35,12 @@ from IPython.core.events import EventManager, pre_run_cell
 
 noop = lambda *a, **kw: None
 
-class FakeShell(object):
+class FakeShell:
 
     def __init__(self):
         self.ns = {}
+        self.user_ns = self.ns
+        self.user_ns_hidden = {}
         self.events = EventManager(self, {'pre_run_cell', pre_run_cell})
         self.auto_magics = AutoreloadMagics(shell=self)
         self.events.register('pre_run_cell', self.auto_magics.pre_run_cell)
@@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ class FakeShell(object):
 
     def run_code(self, code):
         self.events.trigger('pre_run_cell')
-        exec(code, self.ns)
+        exec(code, self.user_ns)
         self.auto_magics.post_execute_hook()
 
     def push(self, items):
@@ -104,7 +106,7 @@ class Fixture(object):
         (because that is stored in the file).  The only reliable way
         to achieve this seems to be to sleep.
         """
-
+        content = textwrap.dedent(content)
         # Sleep one second + eps
         time.sleep(1.05)
 
@@ -113,6 +115,7 @@ class Fixture(object):
             f.write(content)
 
     def new_module(self, code):
+        code = textwrap.dedent(code)
         mod_name, mod_fn = self.get_module()
         with open(mod_fn, 'w') as f:
             f.write(code)
@@ -122,6 +125,17 @@ class Fixture(object):
 # Test automatic reloading
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+def pickle_get_current_class(obj):
+    """
+    Original issue comes from pickle; hence the name.
+    """
+    name = obj.__class__.__name__
+    module_name = getattr(obj, "__module__", None)
+    obj2 = sys.modules[module_name]
+    for subpath in name.split("."):
+        obj2 = getattr(obj2, subpath)
+    return obj2
+
 class TestAutoreload(Fixture):
 
     @skipif(sys.version_info < (3, 6))
@@ -145,6 +159,42 @@ class TestAutoreload(Fixture):
         with tt.AssertNotPrints(('[autoreload of %s failed:' % mod_name), channel='stderr'):
             self.shell.run_code("pass")  # trigger another reload
 
+    def test_reload_class_type(self):
+        self.shell.magic_autoreload("2")
+        mod_name, mod_fn = self.new_module(
+            """
+            class Test():
+                def meth(self):
+                    return "old"
+        """
+        )
+        assert "test" not in self.shell.ns
+        assert "result" not in self.shell.ns
+
+        self.shell.run_code("from %s import Test" % mod_name)
+        self.shell.run_code("test = Test()")
+
+        self.write_file(
+            mod_fn,
+            """
+            class Test():
+                def meth(self):
+                    return "new"
+        """,
+        )
+
+        test_object = self.shell.ns["test"]
+
+        # important to trigger autoreload logic !
+        self.shell.run_code("pass")
+
+        test_class = pickle_get_current_class(test_object)
+        assert isinstance(test_object, test_class)
+
+        # extra check.
+        self.shell.run_code("import pickle")
+        self.shell.run_code("p = pickle.dumps(test)")
+
     def test_reload_class_attributes(self):
         self.shell.magic_autoreload("2")
         mod_name, mod_fn = self.new_module(textwrap.dedent("""
@@ -396,3 +446,4 @@ x = -99
 
 
 
+