diff --git a/core/server/api/db.js b/core/server/api/db.js
index 79db045e5c..b41edcf0be 100644
--- a/core/server/api/db.js
+++ b/core/server/api/db.js
@@ -63,6 +63,11 @@ db = {
                 // Parse the json data
                 try {
                     importData = JSON.parse(fileContents);
+
+                    // if importData follows JSON-API format `{ db: [exportedData] }`
+                    if (_.keys(importData).length === 1 && Array.isArray(importData.db)) {
+                        importData = importData.db[0];
+                    }
                 } catch (e) {
                     errors.logError(e, "API DB import content", "check that the import file is valid JSON.");
                     return when.reject(new errors.BadRequest("Failed to parse the import JSON file"));