diff --git a/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/SessionClosedData.java b/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/SessionClosedData.java
index 1dff56c87b150..1f910b2da3fe9 100644
--- a/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/SessionClosedData.java
+++ b/java/src/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/SessionClosedData.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import org.openqa.selenium.internal.Require;
 import org.openqa.selenium.json.JsonException;
 import org.openqa.selenium.json.JsonInput;
+import org.openqa.selenium.json.JsonType;
 import org.openqa.selenium.remote.SessionId;
 
 /**
@@ -140,6 +141,10 @@ private Map<String, Object> toJson() {
 
   @SuppressWarnings({"unused", "DataFlowIssue"})
   private static SessionClosedData fromJson(JsonInput input) {
+    if (input.peek() == JsonType.STRING) {
+      return new SessionClosedData(input.read(SessionId.class), SessionClosedReason.QUIT_COMMAND);
+    }
+
     SessionId sessionId = null;
     SessionClosedReason reason = null;
     NodeId nodeId = null;
diff --git a/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/BUILD.bazel b/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/BUILD.bazel
index ac313a9987ae9..5c739a79b9c50 100644
--- a/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/BUILD.bazel
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ java_test_suite(
     srcs = glob(["*Test.java"]),
     deps = [
         "//java/src/org/openqa/selenium:core",
+        "//java/src/org/openqa/selenium/events",
         "//java/src/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data",
         "//java/src/org/openqa/selenium/grid/security",
         "//java/src/org/openqa/selenium/json",
diff --git a/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/SessionClosedDataTest.java b/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/SessionClosedDataTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4028b8dbd9f9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java/test/org/openqa/selenium/grid/data/SessionClosedDataTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+// Licensed to the Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) under one
+// or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+// distributed with this work for additional information
+// regarding copyright ownership.  The SFC licenses this file
+// to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+// "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+// with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+package org.openqa.selenium.grid.data;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+import java.util.UUID;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicReference;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.openqa.selenium.events.Event;
+import org.openqa.selenium.events.EventName;
+import org.openqa.selenium.json.Json;
+import org.openqa.selenium.remote.SessionId;
+
+class SessionClosedDataTest {
+
+  private static final Json JSON = new Json();
+
+  @Test
+  void shouldReadLegacySessionIdPayloadAsQuitCommand() {
+    SessionId sessionId = new SessionId("a3aedb1b7bc8894ebf0606214ee47283");
+
+    SessionClosedData data = JSON.toType(JSON.toJson(sessionId), SessionClosedData.class);
+
+    assertThat(data.getSessionId()).isEqualTo(sessionId);
+    assertThat(data.getReason()).isEqualTo(SessionClosedReason.QUIT_COMMAND);
+    assertThat(data.getNodeId()).isNull();
+    assertThat(data.getNodeUri()).isNull();
+    assertThat(data.getCapabilities()).isNull();
+    assertThat(data.getStartTime()).isNull();
+    assertThat(data.getEndTime()).isNotNull();
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void sessionClosedEventListenersShouldHandleLegacySessionIdPayload() {
+    SessionId sessionId = new SessionId("a3aedb1b7bc8894ebf0606214ee47283");
+    Event legacyEvent = new Event(UUID.randomUUID(), new EventName("session-closed"), sessionId);
+    AtomicReference<SessionClosedData> seenData = new AtomicReference<>();
+    AtomicReference<SessionId> seenSessionId = new AtomicReference<>();
+
+    SessionClosedEvent.listener(seenData::set).accept(legacyEvent);
+    SessionClosedEvent.sessionListener(seenSessionId::set).accept(legacyEvent);
+
+    assertThat(seenData.get()).isNotNull();
+    assertThat(seenData.get().getSessionId()).isEqualTo(sessionId);
+    assertThat(seenData.get().getReason()).isEqualTo(SessionClosedReason.QUIT_COMMAND);
+    assertThat(seenSessionId.get()).isEqualTo(sessionId);
+  }
+}