diff --git a/migrations/20160430062446-eventlog-add-table.js b/migrations/20160430062446-eventlog-add-table.js
index 7830cc741..02af1ecb7 100644
--- a/migrations/20160430062446-eventlog-add-table.js
+++ b/migrations/20160430062446-eventlog-add-table.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ exports.up = function(db, callback) {
             "id VARCHAR(128) NOT NULL," +
             "creationTime TIMESTAMP," +
             "action VARCHAR(128) NOT NULL," +
-            "dataJson TEXT," +
+            "data JSON," +
             "PRIMARY KEY (id))";
 
     db.runSql(cmd, function (error) {
diff --git a/src/eventlogdb.js b/src/eventlogdb.js
index 109162f15..8842de76d 100644
--- a/src/eventlogdb.js
+++ b/src/eventlogdb.js
@@ -14,13 +14,11 @@ var assert = require('assert'),
     DatabaseError = require('./databaseerror'),
     safe = require('safetydance');
 
-var EVENTLOGS_FIELDS = [ 'id', 'action', 'dataJson', 'creationTime' ].join(',');
+var EVENTLOGS_FIELDS = [ 'id', 'action', 'data', 'creationTime' ].join(',');
 
+// until mysql module supports automatic type coercion
 function postProcess(eventLog) {
-    eventLog.data = safe.JSON.parse(eventLog.dataJson);
-
-    delete eventLog.dataJson;
-
+    eventLog.data = safe.JSON.parse(eventLog.data);
     return eventLog;
 }
 
@@ -41,7 +39,7 @@ function getAllPaged(page, perPage, callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof perPage, 'number');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
-    database.query('SELECT ' + EVENTLOGS_FIELDS + 'FROM eventlog ORDER BY creationTime DESC LIMIT ?,?', [ (page-1)*perPage, perPage ], function (error, results) {
+    database.query('SELECT ' + EVENTLOGS_FIELDS + ' FROM eventlog ORDER BY creationTime DESC LIMIT ?,?', [ (page-1)*perPage, perPage ], function (error, results) {
         if (error) return callback(new DatabaseError(DatabaseError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
         results.forEach(postProcess);
@@ -56,7 +54,7 @@ function add(id, action, data, callback) {
     assert.strictEqual(typeof data, 'object');
     assert.strictEqual(typeof callback, 'function');
 
-    database.query('INSERT INTO eventlog (id, action, dataJson) VALUES (?, ?, ?)', [ id, action, JSON.stringify(data) ], function (error, result) {
+    database.query('INSERT INTO eventlog (id, action, data) VALUES (?, ?, ?)', [ id, action, JSON.stringify(data) ], function (error, result) {
         if (error && error.code === 'ER_DUP_ENTRY') return callback(new DatabaseError(DatabaseError.ALREADY_EXISTS, error));
         if (error || result.affectedRows !== 1) return callback(new DatabaseError(DatabaseError.INTERNAL_ERROR, error));
 
@@ -81,3 +79,4 @@ function clear(callback) {
         callback(error);
     });
 }
+