diff --git a/src/main/java/io/cryostat/net/web/http/api/v2/graph/StartRecordingOnTargetMutator.java b/src/main/java/io/cryostat/net/web/http/api/v2/graph/StartRecordingOnTargetMutator.java
index 83b5e5aec8..edf17e49de 100644
--- a/src/main/java/io/cryostat/net/web/http/api/v2/graph/StartRecordingOnTargetMutator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/io/cryostat/net/web/http/api/v2/graph/StartRecordingOnTargetMutator.java
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@
 package io.cryostat.net.web.http.api.v2.graph;
 
 import java.util.EnumSet;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
@@ -57,6 +59,7 @@
 import io.cryostat.net.TargetConnectionManager;
 import io.cryostat.net.security.ResourceAction;
 import io.cryostat.net.web.WebServer;
+import io.cryostat.net.web.http.api.v2.graph.PutActiveRecordingMetadataMutator.InputRecordingLabel;
 import io.cryostat.platform.ServiceRef;
 import io.cryostat.platform.discovery.TargetNode;
 import io.cryostat.recordings.RecordingMetadataManager;
@@ -161,11 +164,21 @@ public HyperlinkedSerializableRecordingDescriptor getAuthenticated(
                     }
                     Metadata m = new Metadata();
                     if (settings.containsKey("metadata")) {
-                        m =
-                                (Metadata)
-                                        gson.fromJson(
-                                                settings.get("metadata").toString(),
-                                                new TypeToken<Metadata>() {}.getType());
+                        Map<String, Object> _metadata =
+                                gson.fromJson(
+                                        settings.get("metadata").toString(),
+                                        new TypeToken<Map<String, Object>>() {}.getType());
+
+                        Map<String, String> labels = new HashMap<>();
+                        List<InputRecordingLabel> inputLabels =
+                                gson.fromJson(
+                                        _metadata.get("labels").toString(),
+                                        new TypeToken<List<InputRecordingLabel>>() {}.getType());
+
+                        for (InputRecordingLabel l : inputLabels) {
+                            labels.put(l.getKey(), l.getValue());
+                        }
+                        m = new Metadata(labels);
                     }
                     IRecordingDescriptor desc =
                             recordingTargetHelper.startRecording(
diff --git a/src/test/java/itest/GraphQLIT.java b/src/test/java/itest/GraphQLIT.java
index badf8684db..fafde36a5b 100644
--- a/src/test/java/itest/GraphQLIT.java
+++ b/src/test/java/itest/GraphQLIT.java
@@ -278,10 +278,10 @@ void testStartRecordingMutationOnSpecificTarget() throws Exception {
         query.put(
                 "query",
                 "query { targetNodes(filter: { annotations: \"PORT == 9093\" }) {"
-                        + " doStartRecording(recording: { name: \"graphql-itest\", duration: 30,"
-                        + " template: \"Profiling\", templateType: \"TARGET\", archiveOnStop: true,"
-                        + " metadata: { labels: { newLabel: someValue } }  }) { name state duration"
-                        + " archiveOnStop }} }");
+                    + " doStartRecording(recording: { name: \"graphql-itest\", duration: 30,"
+                    + " template: \"Profiling\", templateType: \"TARGET\", archiveOnStop: true,"
+                    + " metadata: { labels: [ { key: \"newLabel\", value: \"someValue\"} ] }  }) {"
+                    + " name state duration archiveOnStop }} }");
         Map<String, String> expectedLabels =
                 Map.of(
                         "template.name",