diff --git a/src/api/routes/contract.ts b/src/api/routes/contract.ts
index bc6e501e..71a60077 100644
--- a/src/api/routes/contract.ts
+++ b/src/api/routes/contract.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,11 @@ export function createContractRouter(db: DataStore): RouterWithAsync {
       res.status(404).json({ error: `cannot find contract for this trait` });
       return;
     }
-    res.json({ limit, offset, results: smartContracts.result });
+    const contractResults = smartContracts.result.map(contract => ({
+      ...contract,
+      abi: JSON.stringify(contract.abi),
+    }));
+    res.json({ limit, offset, results: contractResults });
   });
 
   router.getAsync('/:contract_id', async (req, res) => {
@@ -38,7 +42,11 @@ export function createContractRouter(db: DataStore): RouterWithAsync {
       res.status(404).json({ error: `cannot find contract by ID ${contract_id}` });
       return;
     }
-    res.json(contractQuery.result);
+    const contractResult = {
+      ...contractQuery.result,
+      abi: JSON.stringify(contractQuery.result.abi),
+    };
+    res.json(contractResult);
   });
 
   router.getAsync('/:contract_id/events', async (req, res) => {
diff --git a/src/datastore/common.ts b/src/datastore/common.ts
index dccaca5e..bb3cb85a 100644
--- a/src/datastore/common.ts
+++ b/src/datastore/common.ts
@@ -235,6 +235,7 @@ export interface DbSmartContract {
   contract_id: string;
   block_height: number;
   source_code: string;
+  // TODO: this appears to be a parsed JSON object now when returned from the sql query
   abi: string;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/tests/api-tests.ts b/src/tests/api-tests.ts
index 09040811..8587f3fd 100644
--- a/src/tests/api-tests.ts
+++ b/src/tests/api-tests.ts
@@ -5100,6 +5100,103 @@ describe('api tests', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  test('get contract by ID', async () => {
+    const block1: DbBlock = {
+      block_hash: '0x1234',
+      index_block_hash: '0xdeadbeef',
+      parent_index_block_hash: '0x00',
+      parent_block_hash: '0xff0011',
+      parent_microblock_hash: '',
+      parent_microblock_sequence: 0,
+      block_height: 1,
+      burn_block_time: 1594647996,
+      burn_block_hash: '0x1234',
+      burn_block_height: 123,
+      miner_txid: '0x4321',
+      canonical: true,
+      execution_cost_read_count: 0,
+      execution_cost_read_length: 0,
+      execution_cost_runtime: 0,
+      execution_cost_write_count: 0,
+      execution_cost_write_length: 0,
+    };
+    const txId1 = '0x421234';
+    const smartContract1: DbSmartContract = {
+      tx_id: txId1,
+      canonical: true,
+      block_height: block1.block_height,
+      contract_id: 'some-contract-id',
+      source_code: '(some-contract-src)',
+      abi: '{"some-abi":1}',
+    };
+    const tx1: DbTx = {
+      tx_id: txId1,
+      tx_index: 0,
+      anchor_mode: 3,
+      nonce: 0,
+      raw_tx: Buffer.alloc(0),
+      index_block_hash: '0x1234',
+      block_hash: '0x5678',
+      block_height: block1.block_height,
+      burn_block_time: 1594647995,
+      parent_burn_block_time: 1626122935,
+      type_id: DbTxTypeId.SmartContract,
+      status: 1,
+      raw_result: '0x0100000000000000000000000000000001', // u1
+      canonical: true,
+      microblock_canonical: true,
+      microblock_sequence: I32_MAX,
+      microblock_hash: '',
+      parent_index_block_hash: '',
+      parent_block_hash: '',
+      post_conditions: Buffer.from([]),
+      fee_rate: 1234n,
+      sponsored: false,
+      sponsor_address: undefined,
+      sender_address: 'sender-addr',
+      origin_hash_mode: 1,
+      smart_contract_contract_id: smartContract1.contract_id,
+      smart_contract_source_code: smartContract1.source_code,
+      event_count: 0,
+      execution_cost_read_count: 0,
+      execution_cost_read_length: 0,
+      execution_cost_runtime: 0,
+      execution_cost_write_count: 0,
+      execution_cost_write_length: 0,
+    };
+
+    await db.update({
+      block: block1,
+      microblocks: [],
+      minerRewards: [],
+      txs: [
+        {
+          tx: tx1,
+          stxLockEvents: [],
+          stxEvents: [],
+          ftEvents: [],
+          nftEvents: [],
+          contractLogEvents: [],
+          smartContracts: [smartContract1],
+          names: [],
+          namespaces: [],
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    const fetchTx = await supertest(api.server).get('/extended/v1/contract/some-contract-id');
+    expect(fetchTx.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(fetchTx.type).toBe('application/json');
+    expect(JSON.parse(fetchTx.text)).toEqual({
+      tx_id: '0x421234',
+      canonical: true,
+      contract_id: 'some-contract-id',
+      block_height: 1,
+      source_code: '(some-contract-src)',
+      abi: '{"some-abi":1}',
+    });
+  });
+
   test('list contract with given trait', async () => {
     const block1: DbBlock = {
       block_hash: '0x1235',
@@ -6278,7 +6375,7 @@ describe('api tests', () => {
       `/extended/v1/contract/by_trait?trait_abi=${JSON.stringify(traitJsonAbiRequest)}`
     );
     expect(query.status).toBe(200);
-    expect(query.body.results[0].abi).toStrictEqual(contractJsonAbi);
+    expect(JSON.parse(query.body.results[0].abi)).toStrictEqual(contractJsonAbi);
 
     const traitJsonAbiRequest1 = {
       maps: [],