diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/constants/db.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/constants/db.ts
index f918dcc352..b33b4835a9 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/constants/db.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/constants/db.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 import { prefixed, DocumentType } from "@budibase/types"
-export { SEPARATOR, UNICODE_MAX, DocumentType } from "@budibase/types"
+export {
+  SEPARATOR,
+  UNICODE_MAX,
+  DocumentType,
+  InternalTable,
+} from "@budibase/types"
 
 /**
  * Can be used to create a few different forms of querying a view.
@@ -30,10 +35,6 @@ export const DeprecatedViews = {
   ],
 }
 
-export enum InternalTable {
-  USER_METADATA = "ta_users",
-}
-
 export const StaticDatabases = {
   GLOBAL: {
     name: "global-db",
diff --git a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceField.svelte b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceField.svelte
index 7d11ff5525..5f00c503c2 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceField.svelte
+++ b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/BBReferenceField.svelte
@@ -1,9 +1,28 @@
 <script>
   import RelationshipField from "./RelationshipField.svelte"
+  import { sdk } from "@budibase/shared-core"
+
+  export let defaultValue
+
+  function updateUserIDs(value) {
+    if (Array.isArray(value)) {
+      return value.map(val => sdk.users.getGlobalUserID(val))
+    } else {
+      return sdk.users.getGlobalUserID(value)
+    }
+  }
+
+  function updateReferences(value) {
+    if (sdk.users.containsUserID(value)) {
+      return updateUserIDs(value)
+    }
+    return value
+  }
 </script>
 
 <RelationshipField
   {...$$props}
   datasourceType={"user"}
   primaryDisplay={"email"}
+  defaultValue={updateReferences(defaultValue)}
 />
diff --git a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/RelationshipField.svelte b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/RelationshipField.svelte
index bb003730b3..52faf46615 100644
--- a/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/RelationshipField.svelte
+++ b/packages/client/src/components/app/forms/RelationshipField.svelte
@@ -160,7 +160,9 @@
   const handleChange = value => {
     const changed = fieldApi.setValue(value)
     if (onChange && changed) {
-      onChange({ value })
+      onChange({
+        value,
+      })
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/shared-core/src/sdk/documents/users.ts b/packages/shared-core/src/sdk/documents/users.ts
index 1be8845656..03d86daa85 100644
--- a/packages/shared-core/src/sdk/documents/users.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-core/src/sdk/documents/users.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
-import { ContextUser, User } from "@budibase/types"
+import {
+  ContextUser,
+  DocumentType,
+  SEPARATOR,
+  User,
+  InternalTable,
+} from "@budibase/types"
 import { getProdAppID } from "./applications"
 
 // checks if a user is specifically a builder, given an app ID
@@ -67,3 +73,21 @@ export function hasAdminPermissions(user?: User | ContextUser): boolean {
   }
   return !!user.admin?.global
 }
+
+export function getGlobalUserID(userId?: string): string | undefined {
+  if (typeof userId !== "string") {
+    return userId
+  }
+  const prefix = `${DocumentType.ROW}${SEPARATOR}${InternalTable.USER_METADATA}${SEPARATOR}`
+  if (!userId.startsWith(prefix)) {
+    return userId
+  }
+  return userId.split(prefix)[1]
+}
+
+export function containsUserID(value: string | undefined): boolean {
+  if (typeof value !== "string") {
+    return false
+  }
+  return value.includes(`${DocumentType.USER}${SEPARATOR}`)
+}
diff --git a/packages/types/src/documents/document.ts b/packages/types/src/documents/document.ts
index 763da62d61..fb9589b24d 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/documents/document.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/documents/document.ts
@@ -58,6 +58,10 @@ export const DocumentTypesToImport: DocumentType[] = [
   DocumentType.LAYOUT,
 ]
 
+export enum InternalTable {
+  USER_METADATA = "ta_users",
+}
+
 // these documents don't really exist, they are part of other
 // documents or enriched into existence as part of get requests
 export enum VirtualDocumentType {