diff --git a/osu.Game/Scoring/Legacy/LegacyScoreDecoder.cs b/osu.Game/Scoring/Legacy/LegacyScoreDecoder.cs
index c356dd246d..a4a560c8e4 100644
--- a/osu.Game/Scoring/Legacy/LegacyScoreDecoder.cs
+++ b/osu.Game/Scoring/Legacy/LegacyScoreDecoder.cs
@@ -28,10 +28,11 @@ namespace osu.Game.Scoring.Legacy
         {
             var score = new Score
             {
-                ScoreInfo = new ScoreInfo(),
                 Replay = new Replay()
             };
 
+            WorkingBeatmap workingBeatmap;
+
             using (SerializationReader sr = new SerializationReader(stream))
             {
                 currentRuleset = GetRuleset(sr.ReadByte());
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ namespace osu.Game.Scoring.Legacy
 
                 var version = sr.ReadInt32();
 
-                var workingBeatmap = GetBeatmap(sr.ReadString());
+                workingBeatmap = GetBeatmap(sr.ReadString());
                 if (workingBeatmap is DummyWorkingBeatmap)
                     throw new BeatmapNotFoundException();
 
@@ -113,6 +114,10 @@ namespace osu.Game.Scoring.Legacy
 
             CalculateAccuracy(score.ScoreInfo);
 
+            // before returning for database import, we must restore the database-sourced BeatmapInfo.
+            // if not, the clone operation in GetPlayableBeatmap will cause a dereference and subsequent database exception.
+            score.ScoreInfo.Beatmap = workingBeatmap.BeatmapInfo;
+
             return score;
         }