diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py
index fbf8b41c61..e1327df49a 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/x_module.py
@@ -358,6 +358,14 @@ class XModuleDescriptor(HTMLSnippet, ResourceTemplates, XBlock):
         default=None,
     )
 
+    # VS[compat].  Backwards compatibility code that can go away after
+    # importing 2012 courses.
+    # A set of metadata key conversions that we want to make
+    metadata_translations = {
+        'slug': 'url_name',
+        'name': 'display_name',
+        }
+
     # ============================= STRUCTURAL MANIPULATION ===================
     def __init__(self,
                  system,
@@ -493,6 +501,10 @@ class XModuleDescriptor(HTMLSnippet, ResourceTemplates, XBlock):
         system: A DescriptorSystem for interacting with external resources
         """
         model_data = {}
+
+        for key, value in json_data.get('metadata', {}).items():
+            model_data[cls._translate(key)] = value
+
         model_data.update(json_data.get('metadata', {}))
 
         definition = json_data.get('definition', {})
@@ -507,6 +519,11 @@ class XModuleDescriptor(HTMLSnippet, ResourceTemplates, XBlock):
 
         return cls(system=system, location=json_data['location'], model_data=model_data)
 
+    @classmethod
+    def _translate(cls, key):
+        'VS[compat]'
+        return cls.metadata_translations.get(key, key)
+
     # ================================= XML PARSING ============================
     @staticmethod
     def load_from_xml(xml_data,
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/xml_module.py b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/xml_module.py
index ae1f7ba27b..e5c1708ac4 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/xml_module.py
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/xml_module.py
@@ -137,18 +137,6 @@ class XmlDescriptor(XModuleDescriptor):
         'allow_anonymous_to_peers': bool_map
     }
 
-    # VS[compat].  Backwards compatibility code that can go away after
-    # importing 2012 courses.
-    # A set of metadata key conversions that we want to make
-    metadata_translations = {
-        'slug': 'url_name',
-        'name': 'display_name',
-        }
-
-    @classmethod
-    def _translate(cls, key):
-        'VS[compat]'
-        return cls.metadata_translations.get(key, key)
 
     @classmethod
     def definition_from_xml(cls, xml_object, system):