diff --git a/umap/migrations/0018_datalayer_uuid.py b/umap/migrations/0018_datalayer_uuid.py
index 7e9a1ee8..02468444 100644
--- a/umap/migrations/0018_datalayer_uuid.py
+++ b/umap/migrations/0018_datalayer_uuid.py
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@ class Migration(migrations.Migration):
         migrations.AddField(
             model_name="datalayer",
             name="uuid",
-            field=models.UUIDField(default=uuid.uuid4, editable=False, null=True),
+            field=models.UUIDField(
+                default=uuid.uuid4, editable=False, null=True, serialize=False
+            ),
         ),
         # Generate UUIDs for existing records
         migrations.RunSQL("UPDATE umap_datalayer SET uuid = gen_random_uuid()"),
@@ -41,7 +43,11 @@ class Migration(migrations.Migration):
             model_name="datalayer",
             name="uuid",
             field=models.UUIDField(
-                default=uuid.uuid4, editable=False, unique=True, primary_key=True
+                default=uuid.uuid4,
+                editable=False,
+                unique=True,
+                primary_key=True,
+                serialize=False,
             ),
         ),
     ]
diff --git a/umap/migrations/0019_migrate_internal_remote_datalayers.py b/umap/migrations/0019_migrate_internal_remote_datalayers.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..59f91cd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/umap/migrations/0019_migrate_internal_remote_datalayers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# Generated by Django 4.2 on 2024-02-26 14:09
+
+import re
+
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.db import migrations
+from django.urls import NoReverseMatch, reverse
+
+# Some users hacked uMap to use another map datalayer as a remote data source.
+# This script gently handles the migration for them.
+
+
+def migrate_datalayers(apps, schema_editor):
+    DataLayer = apps.get_model("umap", "DataLayer")
+
+    datalayers = DataLayer.objects.filter(
+        settings__remoteData__url__icontains="datalayer"
+    )
+
+    for item in datalayers:
+        old_url = item.settings["remoteData"]["url"]
+        match = re.search(
+            rf"{settings.SITE_URL}/datalayer/(?P<map_id>\d+)/(?P<datalayer_id>\d+)",
+            old_url,
+        )
+        if match:
+            remote_id = match.group("datalayer_id")
+            map_id = match.group("map_id")
+            try:
+                remote_uuid = DataLayer.objects.get(id=remote_id).uuid
+            except DataLayer.DoesNotExist:
+                pass
+            else:
+                try:
+                    new_url = settings.SITE_URL + reverse(
+                        "datalayer_view", args=[map_id, remote_uuid]
+                    )
+                except NoReverseMatch:
+                    pass
+                else:
+                    item.settings["remoteData"]["url"] = new_url
+                    item.save()
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+    dependencies = [
+        ("umap", "0018_datalayer_uuid"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.RunPython(migrate_datalayers, reverse_code=migrations.RunPython.noop)
+    ]