diff --git a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/row.spec.ts b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/row.spec.ts
index 6490b4770a..2717a1b7d5 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/row.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/api/routes/tests/row.spec.ts
@@ -789,6 +789,39 @@ describe.each([
         })
       })
 
+      describe("multi-user column", () => {
+        beforeAll(async () => {
+          table = await config.api.table.save(
+            saveTableRequest({
+              schema: {
+                users: {
+                  name: "users",
+                  type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE,
+                  subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType.USER,
+                  default: ["{{ [Current User]._id }}"],
+                },
+              },
+            })
+          )
+        })
+
+        it("creates a new row with a default value successfully", async () => {
+          const row = await config.api.row.save(table._id!, {})
+          expect(row.users).toHaveLength(1)
+          expect(row.users[0]._id).toEqual(config.getUser()._id)
+        })
+
+        it("does not use default value if value specified", async () => {
+          const id = `us_${utils.newid()}`
+          await config.createUser({ _id: id })
+          const row = await config.api.row.save(table._id!, {
+            users: [id],
+          })
+          expect(row.users).toHaveLength(1)
+          expect(row.users[0]._id).toEqual(id)
+        })
+      })
+
       describe("bindings", () => {
         describe("string column", () => {
           beforeAll(async () => {
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
index e63750bff9..dd17bc9ba6 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/rowProcessor/index.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ import {
   PROTECTED_EXTERNAL_COLUMNS,
   PROTECTED_INTERNAL_COLUMNS,
 } from "@budibase/shared-core"
-import { processString } from "@budibase/string-templates"
+import { processStringSync } from "@budibase/string-templates"
 import {
   getTableFromSource,
   isUserMetadataTable,
@@ -134,10 +134,15 @@ async function processDefaultValues(table: Table, row: Row) {
 
   for (const [key, schema] of Object.entries(table.schema)) {
     if ("default" in schema && schema.default != null && row[key] == null) {
-      const processed =
-        typeof schema.default === "string"
-          ? await processString(schema.default, ctx)
-          : schema.default
+      let processed: string | string[]
+      if (Array.isArray(schema.default)) {
+        processed = schema.default.map(val => processStringSync(val, ctx))
+      } else if (typeof schema.default === "string") {
+        processed = processStringSync(schema.default, ctx)
+      } else {
+        processed = schema.default
+      }
+
       try {
         row[key] = coerce(processed, schema.type)
       } catch (err: any) {
diff --git a/packages/shared-core/src/table.ts b/packages/shared-core/src/table.ts
index 677b1e2357..e81e8266cc 100644
--- a/packages/shared-core/src/table.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-core/src/table.ts
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ const allowDefaultColumnByType: Record<FieldType, boolean> = {
   [FieldType.ATTACHMENT_SINGLE]: false,
   [FieldType.SIGNATURE_SINGLE]: false,
   [FieldType.LINK]: false,
-  [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: false,
+  [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE]: true,
   [FieldType.BB_REFERENCE_SINGLE]: true,
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/schema.ts b/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/schema.ts
index f5bb081fd5..b98a0a3d4a 100644
--- a/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/schema.ts
+++ b/packages/types/src/documents/app/table/schema.ts
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ export interface BBReferenceFieldMetadata
   type: FieldType.BB_REFERENCE
   subtype: BBReferenceFieldSubType
   relationshipType?: RelationshipType
+  default?: string[]
 }
 export interface BBReferenceSingleFieldMetadata
   extends Omit<BaseFieldSchema, "subtype"> {