diff --git a/launcher/Json.cpp b/launcher/Json.cpp
index f397f89c5..8623eb2a8 100644
--- a/launcher/Json.cpp
+++ b/launcher/Json.cpp
@@ -279,4 +279,29 @@ QJsonValue requireIsType<QJsonValue>(const QJsonValue& value, const QString& wha
     return value;
 }
 
+QStringList toStringList(const QString& jsonString)
+{
+    QJsonParseError parseError;
+    QJsonDocument doc = QJsonDocument::fromJson(jsonString.toUtf8(), &parseError);
+
+    if (parseError.error != QJsonParseError::NoError || !doc.isArray())
+        return {};
+    try {
+        return ensureIsArrayOf<QString>(doc.array(), "");
+    } catch (Json::JsonException& e) {
+        return {};
+    }
+}
+
+QString fromStringList(const QStringList& list)
+{
+    QJsonArray array;
+    for (const QString& str : list) {
+        array.append(str);
+    }
+
+    QJsonDocument doc(toJsonArray(list));
+    return QString::fromUtf8(doc.toJson(QJsonDocument::Compact));
+}
+
 }  // namespace Json
diff --git a/launcher/Json.h b/launcher/Json.h
index c13be6470..509a41fd5 100644
--- a/launcher/Json.h
+++ b/launcher/Json.h
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ template <typename T>
 QJsonArray toJsonArray(const QList<T>& container)
 {
     QJsonArray array;
-    for (const T item : container) {
+    for (const T& item : container) {
         array.append(toJson<T>(item));
     }
     return array;
@@ -278,5 +278,9 @@ JSON_HELPERFUNCTIONS(Variant, QVariant)
 
 #undef JSON_HELPERFUNCTIONS
 
+// helper functions for settings
+QStringList toStringList(const QString& jsonString);
+QString fromStringList(const QStringList& list);
+
 }  // namespace Json
 using JSONValidationError = Json::JsonException;
diff --git a/launcher/minecraft/MinecraftInstance.cpp b/launcher/minecraft/MinecraftInstance.cpp
index 90c066fe3..fafe7bd37 100644
--- a/launcher/minecraft/MinecraftInstance.cpp
+++ b/launcher/minecraft/MinecraftInstance.cpp
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ void MinecraftInstance::loadSpecificSettings()
 
     // Join server on launch, this does not have a global override
     m_settings->registerSetting("OverrideModDownloadLoaders", false);
-    m_settings->registerSetting("ModDownloadLoaders", QStringList());
+    m_settings->registerSetting("ModDownloadLoaders", "[]");
 
     qDebug() << "Instance-type specific settings were loaded!";
 
diff --git a/launcher/ui/widgets/MinecraftSettingsWidget.cpp b/launcher/ui/widgets/MinecraftSettingsWidget.cpp
index 637e34db7..610dc143b 100644
--- a/launcher/ui/widgets/MinecraftSettingsWidget.cpp
+++ b/launcher/ui/widgets/MinecraftSettingsWidget.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 
 #include "Application.h"
 #include "BuildConfig.h"
+#include "Json.h"
 #include "minecraft/PackProfile.h"
 #include "minecraft/WorldList.h"
 #include "minecraft/auth/AccountList.h"
@@ -242,7 +243,7 @@ void MinecraftSettingsWidget::loadSettings()
         m_ui->liteLoader->blockSignals(true);
         auto instLoaders = m_instance->getPackProfile()->getSupportedModLoaders().value();
         m_ui->loaderGroup->setChecked(settings->get("OverrideModDownloadLoaders").toBool());
-        auto loaders = settings->get("ModDownloadLoaders").toStringList();
+        auto loaders = Json::toStringList(settings->get("ModDownloadLoaders").toString());
         if (loaders.isEmpty()) {
             m_ui->neoForge->setChecked(instLoaders & ModPlatform::NeoForge);
             m_ui->forge->setChecked(instLoaders & ModPlatform::Forge);
@@ -499,5 +500,5 @@ void MinecraftSettingsWidget::selectedLoadersChanged()
         loaders << getModLoaderAsString(ModPlatform::Quilt);
     if (m_ui->liteLoader->isChecked())
         loaders << getModLoaderAsString(ModPlatform::LiteLoader);
-    m_instance->settings()->set("ModDownloadLoaders", loaders);
+    m_instance->settings()->set("ModDownloadLoaders", Json::fromStringList(loaders));
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/launcher/ui/widgets/ModFilterWidget.cpp b/launcher/ui/widgets/ModFilterWidget.cpp
index 699f5f7d6..031ff0f94 100644
--- a/launcher/ui/widgets/ModFilterWidget.cpp
+++ b/launcher/ui/widgets/ModFilterWidget.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <list>
 #include "BaseVersionList.h"
+#include "Json.h"
 #include "Version.h"
 #include "meta/Index.h"
 #include "modplatform/ModIndex.h"
@@ -220,7 +221,7 @@ void ModFilterWidget::prepareBasicFilter()
         m_filter->side = "";  // or "both"
         ModPlatform::ModLoaderTypes loaders;
         if (m_instance->settings()->get("OverrideModDownloadLoaders").toBool()) {
-            for (auto loader : m_instance->settings()->get("ModDownloadLoaders").toStringList()) {
+            for (auto loader : Json::toStringList(m_instance->settings()->get("ModDownloadLoaders").toString())) {
                 loaders |= ModPlatform::getModLoaderFromString(loader);
             }
         } else {