diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/bbReferenceProcessor.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/bbReferenceProcessor.ts
index 3786079883..874113f6f1 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/bbReferenceProcessor.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/bbReferenceProcessor.ts
@@ -14,11 +14,13 @@ export async function processInputBBReference(
   subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
 ): Promise<string | null> {
   if (value && Array.isArray(value)) {
-    throw new InvalidBBRefError(
-      JSON.stringify(value),
-      BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
-      "BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE cannot be an array"
-    )
+    if (value.length > 1) {
+      throw new InvalidBBRefError(
+        JSON.stringify(value),
+        BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER
+      )
+    }
+    value = value[0]
   }
   let id = typeof value === "string" ? value : value?._id
 
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
index e7bc725285..a3f3ebc8f6 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import {
   processOutputBBReferences,
 } from "./bbReferenceProcessor"
 import { isExternalTableID } from "../../integrations/utils"
+import { helpers } from "@budibase/shared-core"
 
 export * from "./utils"
 export * from "./attachments"
@@ -162,10 +163,13 @@ export async function inputProcessing(
       if (attachment?.url) {
         delete clonedRow[key].url
       }
-    } else if (field.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE && value) {
-      clonedRow[key] = await processInputBBReferences(value, field.subtype)
-    } else if (field.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE && value) {
+    } else if (
+      field.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE ||
+      helpers.schema.isDeprecatedSingleUserColumn(field)
+    ) {
       clonedRow[key] = await processInputBBReference(value, field.subtype)
+    } else if (field.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE) {
+      clonedRow[key] = await processInputBBReferences(value, field.subtype)
     }
   }