diff --git a/doc/manual/import.rst b/doc/manual/import.rst
index 11878e11db..2b685943b4 100644
--- a/doc/manual/import.rst
+++ b/doc/manual/import.rst
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ fields:
 - ``display_name`` (optional): the team display name. If provided, will display
   this instead of the team name in certain places, like the scoreboard
 - ``organization_id``: the ID of the team affiliation this team belongs to
-- ``location`` (optional): the location of the team
+- ``location.description`` (optional): the location of the team
 
 If the ``data_source`` setting of DOMjudge is set to external, the ``id`` field will be the
 ID used for the team and the ``group_ids`` and ``organization_id`` fields are the values as
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ Example ``teams.json``::
     "group_ids": ["24"],
     "name": "¡i¡i¡",
     "organization_id": "INST-42",
-    "location": "AUD 10"
+    "location": {"description": "AUD 10"}
   }, {
     "id": "2",
     "icpc_id": "447837",
diff --git a/webapp/src/Entity/Team.php b/webapp/src/Entity/Team.php
index 73c749f47e..1de127be10 100644
--- a/webapp/src/Entity/Team.php
+++ b/webapp/src/Entity/Team.php
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 namespace App\Entity;
 
 use App\Controller\API\AbstractRestController as ARC;
+use App\Helpers\TeamLocation;
 use Doctrine\Common\Collections\ArrayCollection;
 use Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection;
 use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ class Team extends BaseApiEntity implements ExternalRelationshipEntityInterface,
 
     #[ORM\Column(nullable: true, options: ['comment' => 'Physical location of team'])]
     #[OA\Property(nullable: true)]
-    #[Serializer\Groups([ARC::GROUP_NONSTRICT])]
+    #[Serializer\Exclude]
     private ?string $location = null;
 
     #[ORM\Column(
@@ -297,6 +298,14 @@ public function getLocation(): ?string
         return $this->location;
     }
 
+    #[Serializer\Groups([ARC::GROUP_NONSTRICT])]
+    #[Serializer\VirtualProperty]
+    #[Serializer\SerializedName('location')]
+    public function getLocationForApi(): ?TeamLocation
+    {
+        return $this->location ? new TeamLocation($this->location) : null;
+    }
+
     public function setInternalComments(?string $comments): Team
     {
         $this->internalComments = $comments;
diff --git a/webapp/src/Helpers/TeamLocation.php b/webapp/src/Helpers/TeamLocation.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ee0120ec96
--- /dev/null
+++ b/webapp/src/Helpers/TeamLocation.php
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+<?php declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace App\Helpers;
+
+class TeamLocation
+{
+    public function __construct(
+        public readonly string $description
+    ) {}
+}
diff --git a/webapp/src/Service/ImportExportService.php b/webapp/src/Service/ImportExportService.php
index e33b1e40d8..394de64b00 100644
--- a/webapp/src/Service/ImportExportService.php
+++ b/webapp/src/Service/ImportExportService.php
@@ -854,7 +854,7 @@ public function importTeamsJson(array $data, ?string &$message = null, ?array &$
                     'name' => @$team['name'],
                     'display_name' => @$team['display_name'],
                     'publicdescription' => $team['public_description'] ?? @$team['members'],
-                    'location' => @$team['location'],
+                    'location' => @$team['location']['description'],
                 ],
                 'team_affiliation' => [
                     'externalid' => $team['organization_id'] ?? null,
diff --git a/webapp/tests/Unit/Controller/API/TeamControllerTest.php b/webapp/tests/Unit/Controller/API/TeamControllerTest.php
index f172607e99..c84171f6cb 100644
--- a/webapp/tests/Unit/Controller/API/TeamControllerTest.php
+++ b/webapp/tests/Unit/Controller/API/TeamControllerTest.php
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ class TeamControllerTest extends BaseTestCase
             'display_name'    => null,
             'members'         => null,
             'photo'           => null,
-            'location'        => 'Utrecht',
+            'location'        => ['description' => 'Utrecht'],
         ],
     ];
 
diff --git a/webapp/tests/Unit/Service/ImportExportServiceTest.php b/webapp/tests/Unit/Service/ImportExportServiceTest.php
index 550e5c5a4c..1794fa5f02 100644
--- a/webapp/tests/Unit/Service/ImportExportServiceTest.php
+++ b/webapp/tests/Unit/Service/ImportExportServiceTest.php
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@ public function testImportTeamsJson(): void
     "group_ids": ["24"],
     "name": "¡i¡i¡",
     "organization_id": "INST-42",
-    "location": "AUD 10"
+    "location": {"description": "AUD 10"}
 }, {
     "id": "12",
     "icpc_id": "447837",