diff --git a/apps/challenges/views.py b/apps/challenges/views.py
index 58886a37d8..79df01ed22 100644
--- a/apps/challenges/views.py
+++ b/apps/challenges/views.py
@@ -2131,6 +2131,8 @@ def get_or_update_leaderboard(request, leaderboard_pk):
     leaderboard = get_leaderboard_model(leaderboard_pk)
 
     if request.method == "PATCH":
+        if "schema" in request.data.keys():
+            request.data['schema'] = json.loads(request.data['schema'])
         serializer = LeaderboardSerializer(
             leaderboard, data=request.data, partial=True
         )