diff --git a/src/StorageDrivers/DatabaseStorageDriver.php b/src/StorageDrivers/DatabaseStorageDriver.php
index 23ee0a9f..4a75b079 100644
--- a/src/StorageDrivers/DatabaseStorageDriver.php
+++ b/src/StorageDrivers/DatabaseStorageDriver.php
@@ -32,9 +32,9 @@ class DatabaseStorageDriver implements StorageDriver
     public function getTenantById(string $uuid, array $fields = []): array
     {
         if ($fields) {
-            return Tenant::find($uuid)->only($fields);
+            return Tenant::decodeData(Tenant::find($uuid)->only($fields));
         } else {
-            return Tenant::find($uuid)->toArray();
+            return Tenant::find($uuid)->decoded();
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Tenant.php b/src/Tenant.php
index 72bef212..bf13800c 100644
--- a/src/Tenant.php
+++ b/src/Tenant.php
@@ -37,15 +37,35 @@ class Tenant extends Model
     {
         $tenants = $uuids ? static::findMany($uuids) : static::all();
 
-        return $tenants->map(function ($tenant) {
-            $tenant = (array) $tenant->attributes;
-            foreach (json_decode($tenant[static::dataColumn()], true) as $key => $value) {
-                $tenant[$key] = $value;
-            }
-            unset($tenant[static::dataColumn()]); // todo what if 'data' key is stored in tenant storage?
+        return $tenants->map([__CLASS__, 'decodeData'])->toBase();
+    }
 
-            return $tenant;
-        })->toBase();
+    public function decoded()
+    {
+        return static::decodeData($this);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Return a tenant array with data decoded into separate keys.
+     *
+     * @param Tenant|array $tenant
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public static function decodeData($tenant)
+    {
+        $tenant = $tenant instanceof self ? (array) $tenant->attributes : $tenant;
+        $decoded = json_decode($tenant[$dataColumn = static::dataColumn()], true);
+
+        foreach ($decoded as $key => $value) {
+            $tenant[$key] = $value;
+        }
+        
+        // If $tenant[$dataColumn] has been overriden by a value, don't delete the key.
+        if (! array_key_exists($dataColumn, $decoded)) {
+            unset($tenant[$dataColumn]);
+        }
+
+        return $tenant;
     }
 
     public function getFromData(string $key)
diff --git a/src/TenantManager.php b/src/TenantManager.php
index ce6cf656..5f75d918 100644
--- a/src/TenantManager.php
+++ b/src/TenantManager.php
@@ -118,7 +118,12 @@ final class TenantManager
     {
         $fields = (array) $fields;
 
-        return $this->jsonDecodeArrayValues($this->storage->getTenantById($uuid, $fields));
+        $tenant = $this->storage->getTenantById($uuid, $fields);
+        if ($this->useJson()) {
+            $tenant = $this->jsonDecodeArrayValues($tenant);
+        }
+
+        return $tenant;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -269,7 +274,7 @@ final class TenantManager
         $uuid = $uuid ?: $this->tenant['uuid'];
 
         if (\is_array($key)) {
-            return $this->jsonDecodeArrayValues($this->storage->getMany($uuid, $key));
+            return $this->jsonDecodeArrayValues($this->storage->getMany($uuid, $key)); // todo is this correct?
         }
 
         return json_decode($this->storage->get($uuid, $key), true);
@@ -321,7 +326,7 @@ final class TenantManager
             $key[$k] = json_encode($v);
         }
 
-        return $this->jsonDecodeArrayValues($this->storage->putMany($uuid, $key));
+        return $this->jsonDecodeArrayValues($this->storage->putMany($uuid, $key)); // todo is this correct?
     }
 
     /**