diff --git a/packages/backend-core/src/docIds/ids.ts b/packages/backend-core/src/docIds/ids.ts
index e0ac85b3df..4c9eb713c8 100644
--- a/packages/backend-core/src/docIds/ids.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-core/src/docIds/ids.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,11 @@ export function generateGlobalUserID(id?: any) {
   return `${DocumentType.USER}${SEPARATOR}${id || newid()}`
 }
 
+const isGlobalUserIDRegex = new RegExp(`^${DocumentType.USER}${SEPARATOR}.+`)
+export function isGlobalUserID(id: string) {
+  return isGlobalUserIDRegex.test(id)
+}
+
 /**
  * Generates a new user ID based on the passed in global ID.
  * @param {string} globalId The ID of the global user.
diff --git a/packages/builder/src/components/backend/TableNavigator/TableDataImport.svelte b/packages/builder/src/components/backend/TableNavigator/TableDataImport.svelte
index 6f44135006..82b883c4d4 100644
--- a/packages/builder/src/components/backend/TableNavigator/TableDataImport.svelte
+++ b/packages/builder/src/components/backend/TableNavigator/TableDataImport.svelte
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
   import { FIELDS } from "constants/backend"
   import { API } from "api"
   import { parseFile } from "./utils"
+  import { FieldType } from "@budibase/types"
 
   export let rows = []
   export let schema = {}
@@ -86,10 +87,35 @@
   let validateHash = ""
   let errors = {}
   let selectedColumnTypes = {}
+  let rawRows = []
 
   $: displayColumnOptions = Object.keys(schema || {}).filter(column => {
     return validation[column]
   })
+
+  $: {
+    rows = []
+
+    for (const row of rawRows) {
+      const castedRow = { ...row }
+      for (const fieldSchema of Object.values(schema || {})) {
+        if (fieldSchema.type === FieldType.BB_REFERENCE) {
+          try {
+            castedRow[fieldSchema.name] = JSON.parse(
+              row[fieldSchema.name].replace(/'/g, '"')
+            )
+          } catch {
+            console.warn("Not a valid json", {
+              field: fieldSchema.name,
+              data: row[fieldSchema.name],
+            })
+          }
+        }
+      }
+      rows.push(castedRow)
+    }
+  }
+
   $: {
     // binding in consumer is causing double renders here
     const newValidateHash = JSON.stringify(rows) + JSON.stringify(schema)
@@ -107,7 +133,7 @@
 
     try {
       const response = await parseFile(e)
-      rows = response.rows
+      rawRows = response.rows
       schema = response.schema
       fileName = response.fileName
       selectedColumnTypes = Object.entries(response.schema).reduce(
diff --git a/packages/server/src/utilities/schema.ts b/packages/server/src/utilities/schema.ts
index 5ced82d8cf..e66bc97c8f 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/utilities/schema.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/utilities/schema.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
+import { FieldSubtype } from "@budibase/types"
 import { FieldTypes } from "../constants"
-import { ValidColumnNameRegex } from "@budibase/shared-core"
+import { ValidColumnNameRegex, utils } from "@budibase/shared-core"
+import { db } from "@budibase/backend-core"
 
 interface SchemaColumn {
   readonly name: string
   readonly type: FieldTypes
+  readonly subtype: FieldSubtype
   readonly autocolumn?: boolean
   readonly constraints?: {
     presence: boolean
@@ -77,8 +80,14 @@ export function validate(rows: Rows, schema: Schema): ValidationResults {
   rows.forEach(row => {
     Object.entries(row).forEach(([columnName, columnData]) => {
       const columnType = schema[columnName]?.type
+      const columnSubtype = schema[columnName]?.subtype
       const isAutoColumn = schema[columnName]?.autocolumn
 
+      // If the column had an invalid value we don't want to override it
+      if (results.schemaValidation[columnName] === false) {
+        return
+      }
+
       // If the columnType is not a string, then it's not present in the schema, and should be added to the invalid columns array
       if (typeof columnType !== "string") {
         results.invalidColumns.push(columnName)
@@ -112,6 +121,11 @@ export function validate(rows: Rows, schema: Schema): ValidationResults {
         isNaN(new Date(columnData).getTime())
       ) {
         results.schemaValidation[columnName] = false
+      } else if (
+        columnType === FieldTypes.BB_REFERENCE &&
+        !isValidBBReference(columnData, columnSubtype)
+      ) {
+        results.schemaValidation[columnName] = false
       } else {
         results.schemaValidation[columnName] = true
       }
@@ -155,3 +169,37 @@ export function parse(rows: Rows, schema: Schema): Rows {
     return parsedRow
   })
 }
+
+function isValidBBReference(
+  columnData: any,
+  columnSubtype: FieldSubtype
+): boolean {
+  switch (columnSubtype) {
+    case FieldSubtype.USER:
+    case FieldSubtype.USERS:
+      if (!columnData) {
+        // Empty columns are valid by default
+        return true
+      }
+
+      if (!Array.isArray(columnData)) {
+        // It must be an array field
+        return false
+      }
+
+      if (columnSubtype === FieldSubtype.USER && columnData.length > 1) {
+        return false
+      }
+
+      for (const d of columnData) {
+        if (!db.isGlobalUserID(d._id)) {
+          return false
+        }
+      }
+
+      return true
+
+    default:
+      throw utils.unreachable(columnSubtype)
+  }
+}