diff --git a/src/platform/plugins/shared/embeddable/public/react_embeddable_system/react_embeddable_renderer.tsx b/src/platform/plugins/shared/embeddable/public/react_embeddable_system/react_embeddable_renderer.tsx
index 147a8a4c92a08..a97f2709b7fe8 100644
--- a/src/platform/plugins/shared/embeddable/public/react_embeddable_system/react_embeddable_renderer.tsx
+++ b/src/platform/plugins/shared/embeddable/public/react_embeddable_system/react_embeddable_renderer.tsx
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { v4 as generateId } from 'uuid';
 import { PhaseTracker } from './phase_tracker';
 import { getReactEmbeddableFactory } from './react_embeddable_registry';
 import { DefaultEmbeddableApi, EmbeddableApiRegistration } from './types';
+import { getTransforms, hasTransforms } from '../transforms_registry';
 
 /**
  * Renders a component from the React Embeddable registry into a Presentation Panel.
@@ -63,6 +64,7 @@ export const EmbeddableRenderer = <
 
         const buildEmbeddable = async () => {
           const factory = await getReactEmbeddableFactory<SerializedState, Api>(type);
+          const transforms = hasTransforms(type) ? await getTransforms(type) : null;
 
           const finalizeApi = (
             apiRegistration: EmbeddableApiRegistration<SerializedState, Api>
@@ -84,8 +86,14 @@ export const EmbeddableRenderer = <
           const initialState = parentApi.getSerializedStateForChild(uuid) ?? {
             rawState: {} as SerializedState,
           };
+          const transformedInitialState =
+            transforms?.transformOut?.(initialState.rawState, initialState.references) ??
+            initialState.rawState;
           const { api, Component } = await factory.buildEmbeddable({
-            initialState,
+            initialState: {
+              ...initialState,
+              rawState: transformedInitialState,
+            },
             finalizeApi,
             uuid,
             parentApi,
diff --git a/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/common/transforms/index.ts b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/common/transforms/index.ts
index f294802fed3ed..1ff8685ea5ca3 100644
--- a/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/common/transforms/index.ts
+++ b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/common/transforms/index.ts
@@ -6,3 +6,4 @@
  */
 
 export { ConfigBuilderStub } from './config_builder_stub';
+export type * from './types';
diff --git a/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/common/transforms/transforms.ts b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/common/transforms/transforms.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6b978f1f1bd4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/common/transforms/transforms.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
+ * 2.0; you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License
+ * 2.0.
+ */
+
+import { EmbeddableTransforms } from '@kbn/embeddable-plugin/common';
+
+import type { LensSerializedState } from '../../public';
+import {
+  LENS_ITEM_VERSION as LENS_ITEM_VERSION_V1,
+  transformToV1LensItemAttributes,
+} from '../content_management/v1';
+
+export const lensTransforms = {
+  transformOut(state: LensSerializedState): LensSerializedState {
+    // skip by-ref Lens panels
+    if (!state.attributes) return state;
+
+    const version = state.attributes.version ?? 0;
+    const newState = { ...state };
+
+    if (version < LENS_ITEM_VERSION_V1) {
+      newState.attributes = transformToV1LensItemAttributes({
+        ...state.attributes,
+        description: state.attributes.description ?? '',
+      }) as LensSerializedState['attributes'];
+    }
+
+    return newState;
+  },
+} satisfies EmbeddableTransforms<LensSerializedState, LensSerializedState>;
diff --git a/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/common/transforms/types.ts b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/common/transforms/types.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..4e453a092ee41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/common/transforms/types.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
+ * 2.0; you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License
+ * 2.0.
+ */
+
+import type { LensItem as LensItemV1, LensAttributesV0 } from '../content_management/v1';
+import type { LensItem } from '../content_management';
+
+/**
+ * Any of the versioned Lens Item
+ */
+export type VersionLensItem = LensItem | LensItemV1;
+
+/**
+ * Any of the versioned or unversioned Lens Item
+ */
+export type UnknownLensItem = LensAttributesV0 | VersionLensItem;
diff --git a/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/public/plugin.ts b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/public/plugin.ts
index 5c21156216210..79647fc678f12 100644
--- a/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/public/plugin.ts
+++ b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/public/plugin.ts
@@ -394,6 +394,11 @@ export class LensPlugin {
         return createLensEmbeddableFactory(deps);
       });
 
+      embeddable.registerTransforms(LENS_EMBEDDABLE_TYPE, async () => {
+        const { lensTransforms } = await import('../common/transforms/transforms');
+        return lensTransforms;
+      });
+
       // Let Dashboard know about the Lens panel type
       embeddable.registerAddFromLibraryType<LensAttributes>({
         onAdd: async (container, savedObject) => {
diff --git a/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/server/content_management/v1/index.ts b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/server/content_management/v1/index.ts
index c8bc1e21a4a6c..303206c709a42 100644
--- a/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/server/content_management/v1/index.ts
+++ b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/server/content_management/v1/index.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 
 export { LENS_ITEM_VERSION } from './constants';
 
+export * from './transforms';
 export * from './service';
 export * from './schema';
 export type * from './types';
diff --git a/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/server/plugin.tsx b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/server/plugin.tsx
index 531908caa722f..76a1fa1fba39f 100644
--- a/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/server/plugin.tsx
+++ b/x-pack/platform/plugins/shared/lens/server/plugin.tsx
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ import { LensAppLocatorDefinition } from '../common/locator/locator';
 import { LENS_CONTENT_TYPE, LENS_ITEM_LATEST_VERSION } from '../common/constants';
 import { LensStorage } from './content_management';
 import { registerLensAPIRoutes } from './api/routes';
+import { lensTransforms } from '../common/transforms/transforms';
+import { LENS_EMBEDDABLE_TYPE } from '../common/constants';
 
 export interface PluginSetupContract {
   taskManager?: TaskManagerSetupContract;
@@ -100,6 +102,7 @@ export class LensServerPlugin
       this.customVisualizationMigrations
     );
     plugins.embeddable.registerEmbeddableFactory(lensEmbeddableFactory());
+    plugins.embeddable.registerTransforms(LENS_EMBEDDABLE_TYPE, lensTransforms);
 
     registerLensAPIRoutes({
       http: core.http,