diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/event/ProjectNameKeyAdapter.java b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/event/ProjectNameKeyAdapter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8c00282
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/event/ProjectNameKeyAdapter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2020 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.event;
+
+import com.google.gerrit.reviewdb.client.Project;
+import com.google.gson.JsonDeserializationContext;
+import com.google.gson.JsonDeserializer;
+import com.google.gson.JsonElement;
+import com.google.gson.JsonParseException;
+import com.google.gson.JsonPrimitive;
+import com.google.gson.JsonSerializationContext;
+import com.google.gson.JsonSerializer;
+import java.lang.reflect.Type;
+
+public class ProjectNameKeyAdapter
+    implements JsonSerializer<Project.NameKey>, JsonDeserializer<Project.NameKey> {
+  @Override
+  public JsonElement serialize(
+      Project.NameKey project, Type typeOfSrc, JsonSerializationContext context) {
+    return new JsonPrimitive(project.get());
+  }
+
+  @Override
+  public Project.NameKey deserialize(
+      JsonElement json, Type typeOfT, JsonDeserializationContext context)
+      throws JsonParseException {
+    if (json.isJsonObject()) {
+      return Project.nameKey(json.getAsJsonObject().get("name").getAsJsonPrimitive().getAsString());
+    }
+    return Project.nameKey(json.getAsString());
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/GsonProvider.java b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/GsonProvider.java
index e62cec2..36f0029 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/GsonProvider.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/forwarder/rest/GsonProvider.java
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@
 
 package com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.forwarder.rest;
 
+import com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.event.ProjectNameKeyAdapter;
 import com.google.common.base.Supplier;
+import com.google.gerrit.reviewdb.client.Project;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.events.Event;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.events.EventDeserializer;
 import com.google.gerrit.server.events.SupplierDeserializer;
@@ -28,6 +30,7 @@
   public Gson get() {
     return new GsonBuilder()
         .registerTypeAdapter(Event.class, new EventDeserializer())
+        .registerTypeAdapter(Project.NameKey.class, new ProjectNameKeyAdapter())
         .registerTypeAdapter(Supplier.class, new SupplierDeserializer())
         .create();
   }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/event/EventDeserializerTest.java b/src/test/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/event/EventDeserializerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e1b5eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/com/ericsson/gerrit/plugins/highavailability/event/EventDeserializerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+// Copyright (C) 2020 The Android Open Source Project
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.event;
+
+import static com.google.common.truth.Truth.assertThat;
+
+import com.ericsson.gerrit.plugins.highavailability.forwarder.rest.GsonProvider;
+import com.google.gerrit.reviewdb.client.Project;
+import com.google.gson.Gson;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class EventDeserializerTest {
+  private static final String LEGACY_PROJECT_KEY = "{\"name\": \"project\"}";
+
+  private static final String NEW_PROJECT_KEY = "\"project\"";
+
+  private final Gson gson = new GsonProvider().get();
+
+  @Test
+  public void deserializePatchSetCreatedEventLegacyProjectKey() {
+    Project.NameKey n = gson.fromJson(LEGACY_PROJECT_KEY, Project.NameKey.class);
+    assertThat(n.get()).isEqualTo("project");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void deserializePatchSetCreatedEventNewProjectKey() {
+    Project.NameKey n = gson.fromJson(NEW_PROJECT_KEY, Project.NameKey.class);
+    assertThat(n.get()).isEqualTo("project");
+  }
+}