diff --git a/[esx_addons]/esx_datastore/server/classes/datastore.lua b/[esx_addons]/esx_datastore/server/classes/datastore.lua
index 050df2c2..53711386 100644
--- a/[esx_addons]/esx_datastore/server/classes/datastore.lua
+++ b/[esx_addons]/esx_datastore/server/classes/datastore.lua
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ function CreateDataStore(name, owner, data)
 
 	self.name  = name
 	self.owner = owner
-	self.data  = data
+	self.data  = type(data) == 'string' and json.decode(data) or data
 
 	local timeoutCallbacks = {}
 
diff --git a/[esx_addons]/esx_datastore/server/main.lua b/[esx_addons]/esx_datastore/server/main.lua
index d1eafd78..fee17821 100644
--- a/[esx_addons]/esx_datastore/server/main.lua
+++ b/[esx_addons]/esx_datastore/server/main.lua
@@ -12,10 +12,10 @@ AddEventHandler('onResourceStart', function(resourceName)
 					DataStoresIndex[#DataStoresIndex + 1] = data.name
 					DataStores[data.name] = {}
 				end
-				DataStores[data.name][#DataStores[data.name] + 1] = CreateDataStore(data.name, data.owner, data.data)
+				DataStores[data.name][#DataStores[data.name] + 1] = CreateDataStore(data.name, data.owner, json.decode(data.data))
 			else
 				if data.data then
-					SharedDataStores[data.name] = CreateDataStore(data.name, nil, data.data)
+					SharedDataStores[data.name] = CreateDataStore(data.name, nil, json.decode(data.data))
 				else
 					newData[#newData + 1] = {data.name, '\'{}\''}
 				end
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ AddEventHandler('onResourceStart', function(resourceName)
 			MySQL.prepare('INSERT INTO datastore_data (name, data) VALUES (?, ?)', newData)
 			for i = 1, #newData do
 				local new = newData[i]
-				SharedDataStores[new[1]] = CreateDataStore(new[1], nil, new[2])
+				SharedDataStores[new[1]] = CreateDataStore(new[1], nil, {})
 			end
 		end
 	end