diff --git a/.changeset/run-metadata-json-string.md b/.changeset/run-metadata-json-string.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bf9b228bc21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/run-metadata-json-string.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@trigger.dev/core": patch
+---
+
+`metadata.refresh()` now works against deployments where `GET /api/v1/runs/:runId/metadata` returns the run metadata as a JSON string rather than an object. The response schema parses a string payload before validating, so `refresh()` resolves with the same metadata record on every version.
diff --git a/packages/core/src/v3/schemas/api.ts b/packages/core/src/v3/schemas/api.ts
index 9ec3cb24b84..fd0601fe5e7 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/v3/schemas/api.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/v3/schemas/api.ts
@@ -1769,7 +1769,20 @@ export const UpdateMetadataRequestBody = FlushedRunMetadata;
 export type UpdateMetadataRequestBody = z.infer<typeof UpdateMetadataRequestBody>;
 
 export const UpdateMetadataResponseBody = z.object({
-  metadata: z.record(z.string(), DeserializedJsonSchema),
+  metadata: z.preprocess(
+    (value) => {
+      if (typeof value !== "string") {
+        return value;
+      }
+
+      try {
+        return JSON.parse(value);
+      } catch {
+        return value;
+      }
+    },
+    z.record(z.string(), DeserializedJsonSchema)
+  ),
 });
 
 export type UpdateMetadataResponseBody = z.infer<typeof UpdateMetadataResponseBody>;
diff --git a/packages/core/src/v3/schemas/runMetadata.test.ts b/packages/core/src/v3/schemas/runMetadata.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c7e7e79327d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/src/v3/schemas/runMetadata.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { UpdateMetadataResponseBody } from "./api.js";
+
+describe("UpdateMetadataResponseBody", () => {
+  it("parses an object metadata payload", () => {
+    const result = UpdateMetadataResponseBody.safeParse({
+      metadata: { key: "value", count: 2 },
+    });
+
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    if (result.success) {
+      expect(result.data.metadata).toEqual({ key: "value", count: 2 });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("parses a metadata payload returned as a JSON string", () => {
+    const result = UpdateMetadataResponseBody.safeParse({
+      metadata: '{"key":"value","count":2}',
+    });
+
+    expect(result.success).toBe(true);
+    if (result.success) {
+      expect(result.data.metadata).toEqual({ key: "value", count: 2 });
+    }
+  });
+
+  it("rejects a metadata payload that is neither object nor valid JSON", () => {
+    const result = UpdateMetadataResponseBody.safeParse({ metadata: "not-json" });
+
+    expect(result.success).toBe(false);
+  });
+});