diff --git a/backend/chainlit/data/sql_alchemy.py b/backend/chainlit/data/sql_alchemy.py
index 024eed6141..8ddc550381 100644
--- a/backend/chainlit/data/sql_alchemy.py
+++ b/backend/chainlit/data/sql_alchemy.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from importlib import metadata
 import json
 import ssl
 import uuid
@@ -115,7 +116,15 @@ async def get_user(self, identifier: str) -> Optional[PersistedUser]:
         result = await self.execute_sql(query=query, parameters=parameters)
         if result and isinstance(result, list):
             user_data = result[0]
-            return PersistedUser(**user_data)
+            metadata = user_data.get("metadata") or {}
+            if metadata is not Dict:
+                metadata = json.loads(metadata)
+            return PersistedUser(
+                id=user_data.get("id"),
+                identifier=user_data.get("identifier"),
+                createdAt=user_data.get("createdAt"),
+                metadata=metadata,
+            )
         return None
 
     async def create_user(self, user: User) -> Optional[PersistedUser]:
diff --git a/backend/chainlit/socket.py b/backend/chainlit/socket.py
index f2979e9e21..d1b35dc0b0 100644
--- a/backend/chainlit/socket.py
+++ b/backend/chainlit/socket.py
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ async def resume_thread(session: WebsocketSession):
 
     if user_is_author:
         metadata = thread.get("metadata") or {}
+        if metadata is not Dict:
+            metadata = json.loads(metadata)
         user_sessions[session.id] = metadata.copy()
         if chat_profile := metadata.get("chat_profile"):
             session.chat_profile = chat_profile