diff --git a/corehq/apps/dump_reload/tests/test_serialization.py b/corehq/apps/dump_reload/tests/test_serialization.py
index 47eb8dc4551c..6c3da36d9c37 100644
--- a/corehq/apps/dump_reload/tests/test_serialization.py
+++ b/corehq/apps/dump_reload/tests/test_serialization.py
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
+import json
+from io import StringIO
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
 from django.core.serializers.python import Deserializer
 from django.test import SimpleTestCase
 
+from corehq.apps.dump_reload.sql.dump import SqlDataDumper
+from corehq.form_processor.models.cases import CaseTransaction, CommCareCase
+from corehq.form_processor.models.forms import XFormInstance, XFormOperation
+
 
 class TestJSONFieldSerialization(SimpleTestCase):
     """
@@ -22,3 +30,53 @@ def _test_json_field_after_serialization(serialized):
 
         _test_json_field_after_serialization(serialized_model_with_primary_key)
         _test_json_field_after_serialization(serialized_model_with_natural_key)
+
+
+class TestForeignKeyFieldSerialization(SimpleTestCase):
+    """
+    We use natural foreign keys when dumping SQL data, but CommCareCase and XFormInstance have natural_key methods
+    that intentionally return a string for the case_id or form_id, rather than a tuple as Django recommends for
+    all natural_key methods. We made this decision to optimize loading deserialized data back into a database. If
+    the natural_key method returns a tuple, it will use the get_by_natural_key method on the foreign key model's
+    default object manager to fetch the foreign keyed object, resulting in a database lookup everytime we write
+    a model that foreign keys to cases or forms in SqlDataLoader.
+    """
+
+    def test_serialized_foreign_key_field_referencing_User_returns_an_iterable(self):
+        from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+
+        from corehq.apps.users.models import SQLUserData
+        user = User(username='testuser')
+        user_data = SQLUserData(django_user=user, data={'test': 1})
+
+        output_stream = StringIO()
+        with patch('corehq.apps.dump_reload.sql.dump.get_objects_to_dump', return_value=[user_data]):
+            SqlDataDumper('test', [], []).dump(output_stream)
+
+        deserialized_model = json.loads(output_stream.getvalue())
+        fk_field = deserialized_model['fields']['django_user']
+        self.assertEqual(fk_field, ['testuser'])
+
+    def test_serialized_foreign_key_field_referencing_CommCareCase_returns_a_str(self):
+        cc_case = CommCareCase(domain='test', case_id='abc123')
+        transaction = CaseTransaction(case=cc_case)
+
+        output_stream = StringIO()
+        with patch('corehq.apps.dump_reload.sql.dump.get_objects_to_dump', return_value=[transaction]):
+            SqlDataDumper('test', [], []).dump(output_stream)
+
+        deserialized_model = json.loads(output_stream.getvalue())
+        fk_field = deserialized_model['fields']['case']
+        self.assertEqual(fk_field, 'abc123')
+
+    def test_serialized_foreign_key_field_referencing_XFormInstance_returns_a_str(self):
+        xform = XFormInstance(domain='test', form_id='abc123')
+        operation = XFormOperation(form=xform)
+
+        output_stream = StringIO()
+        with patch('corehq.apps.dump_reload.sql.dump.get_objects_to_dump', return_value=[operation]):
+            SqlDataDumper('test', [], []).dump(output_stream)
+
+        deserialized_model = json.loads(output_stream.getvalue())
+        fk_field = deserialized_model['fields']['form']
+        self.assertEqual(fk_field, 'abc123')
diff --git a/corehq/apps/dump_reload/tests/test_sql_data_loader.py b/corehq/apps/dump_reload/tests/test_sql_data_loader.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..718e8a070a3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/corehq/apps/dump_reload/tests/test_sql_data_loader.py
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+import json
+
+from django.contrib.auth.models import User
+from django.test import TestCase
+
+from corehq.apps.dump_reload.sql.load import SqlDataLoader
+from corehq.apps.users.models import SQLUserData
+from corehq.form_processor.models.cases import CaseTransaction
+from corehq.form_processor.tests.utils import create_case
+
+
+class TestSqlDataLoader(TestCase):
+
+    def test_loading_foreign_keys_using_iterable_natural_key(self):
+        user = User.objects.create(username='testuser')
+        model = {
+            "model": "users.sqluserdata",
+            "fields": {
+                "domain": "test",
+                "user_id": "testuser",
+                "django_user": ["testuser"],
+                "modified_on": "2024-01-01T12:00:00.000000Z",
+                "profile": None,
+                "data": {"test": "1"},
+            },
+        }
+        serialized_model = json.dumps(model)
+
+        SqlDataLoader().load_objects([serialized_model])
+
+        user_data = SQLUserData.objects.get(django_user=user)
+        self.assertEqual(user_data.django_user.pk, user.pk)
+
+    def test_loading_foreign_keys_using_non_iterable_natural_key(self):
+        # create_case will create a CaseTransaction too so test verifies the serialized one is saved properly
+        cc_case = create_case('test', case_id='abc123', save=True)
+        model = {
+            "model": "form_processor.casetransaction",
+            "fields": {
+                "case": "abc123",
+                "form_id": "fk-test",
+                "sync_log_id": None,
+                "server_date": "2024-01-01T12:00:00.000000Z",
+                "_client_date": None,
+                "type": 1,
+                "revoked": False,
+                "details": {},
+            },
+        }
+        serialized_model = json.dumps(model)
+
+        SqlDataLoader().load_objects([serialized_model])
+
+        transaction = CaseTransaction.objects.partitioned_query('abc123').get(case=cc_case, form_id='fk-test')
+        self.assertEqual(transaction.case_id, 'abc123')