diff --git a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorage.java b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorage.java
index ce7fe7b..f603466 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorage.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorage.java
@@ -289,6 +289,8 @@
               refs.add(in.nextString());
             }
             in.endArray();
+          } else if ("ref".equals(fieldname)) {
+            refs.add(in.nextString());
           } else if ("uri".equals(fieldname)) {
             try {
               uri = new URIish(in.nextString());
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageTaskTest.java b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageTaskTest.java
index 3b7aec7..da27bc1 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageTaskTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/googlesource/gerrit/plugins/replication/ReplicationTasksStorageTaskTest.java
@@ -428,6 +428,25 @@
         () -> gson.fromJson("{\"unknownKey\":\"someValue\"}", ReplicateRefUpdate.class));
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void ReadOldFormatReplicateRefUpdateTypeAdapter() throws Exception {
+    Gson gson =
+        new GsonBuilder()
+            .registerTypeAdapterFactory(new ReplicateRefUpdateTypeAdapterFactory())
+            .create();
+    ReplicateRefUpdate update =
+        ReplicateRefUpdate.create(
+            "someProject",
+            ImmutableSet.of("ref1"),
+            new URIish("git://host1/someRepo.git"),
+            "someRemote");
+    assertEquals(
+        gson.fromJson(
+            "{\"project\":\"someProject\",\"ref\":\"ref1\",\"uri\":\"git://host1/someRepo.git\",\"remote\":\"someRemote\"}",
+            ReplicateRefUpdate.class),
+        update);
+  }
+
   protected static void assertIsWaiting(Task task) {
     assertTrue(task.isWaiting());
   }