diff --git a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/access.py b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/access.py
index 5e81ce3091..6e9eab48b6 100644
--- a/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/access.py
+++ b/cms/djangoapps/contentstore/views/access.py
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ def has_course_access(user, course_key, role=CourseStaffRole):
         return True
     if OrgStaffRole(org=course_key.org).has_user(user):
         return True
-    return auth.has_access(user, role(course_key))
+    # temporary to ensure we give universal access given a course until we impl branch specific perms
+    return auth.has_access(user, role(course_key.for_branch(None)))
 
 
 def get_user_role(user, course_id):
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/split.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/split.py
index 99adc9ef39..665673f83f 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/split.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/modulestore/split_mongo/split.py
@@ -2101,7 +2101,8 @@ class SplitMongoModuleStore(SplitBulkWriteMixin, ModuleStoreWriteBase):
 
     def _serialize_fields(self, category, fields):
         """
-        Convert any references to their serialized form.
+        Convert any references to their serialized form. Handle some references already being unicoded
+        because the client passed them that way and nothing above this layer did the necessary deserialization.
 
         Remove any fields which split or its kvs computes or adds but does not want persisted.
 
@@ -2111,17 +2112,26 @@ class SplitMongoModuleStore(SplitBulkWriteMixin, ModuleStoreWriteBase):
         xblock_class = XBlock.load_class(category, self.default_class)
         xblock_class = self.mixologist.mix(xblock_class)
 
+        def reference_block_id(reference):
+            """
+            Handle client possibly setting field to strings rather than keys to get the block_id
+            """
+            # perhaps replace by fixing the views or Field Reference*.from_json to return a Key
+            if isinstance(reference, basestring):
+                reference = BlockUsageLocator.from_string(reference)
+            return BlockKey.from_usage_key(reference)
+
         for field_name, value in fields.iteritems():
             if value is not None:
                 if isinstance(xblock_class.fields[field_name], Reference):
-                    fields[field_name] = BlockKey.from_usage_key(value)
+                    fields[field_name] = reference_block_id(value)
                 elif isinstance(xblock_class.fields[field_name], ReferenceList):
                     fields[field_name] = [
-                        BlockKey.from_usage_key(ele) for ele in value
+                        reference_block_id(ele) for ele in value
                     ]
                 elif isinstance(xblock_class.fields[field_name], ReferenceValueDict):
                     for key, subvalue in value.iteritems():
-                        value[key] = BlockKey.from_usage_key(subvalue)
+                        value[key] = reference_block_id(subvalue)
                 # should this recurse down dicts and lists just in case they contain datetime?
                 elif not isinstance(value, datetime.datetime):  # don't convert datetimes!
                     fields[field_name] = xblock_class.fields[field_name].to_json(value)
diff --git a/common/test/acceptance/fixtures/course.py b/common/test/acceptance/fixtures/course.py
index 9ec6b9f572..69836fbee0 100644
--- a/common/test/acceptance/fixtures/course.py
+++ b/common/test/acceptance/fixtures/course.py
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ from collections import namedtuple
 from path import path
 from lazy import lazy
 from opaque_keys.edx.keys import CourseKey
-from opaque_keys.edx.locator import CourseLocator
 
 from . import STUDIO_BASE_URL
 
@@ -272,7 +271,11 @@ class CourseFixture(StudioApiFixture):
         Return the locator string for the course.
         """
         course_key = CourseKey.from_string(self._course_key)
-        return unicode(course_key.make_usage_key('course', self._course_dict['run']))
+        if getattr(course_key, 'deprecated', False):
+            block_id = self._course_dict['run']
+        else:
+            block_id = 'course'
+        return unicode(course_key.make_usage_key('course', block_id))
 
     @property
     def _assets_url(self):