diff --git a/main/src/com/google/refine/operations/column/ColumnRenameOperation.java b/main/src/com/google/refine/operations/column/ColumnRenameOperation.java
index 1b843fe6f..7b3739e97 100644
--- a/main/src/com/google/refine/operations/column/ColumnRenameOperation.java
+++ b/main/src/com/google/refine/operations/column/ColumnRenameOperation.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 
 package com.google.refine.operations.column;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
 import com.google.refine.history.Change;
 import com.google.refine.history.HistoryEntry;
@@ -44,8 +45,11 @@ public class ColumnRenameOperation extends AbstractOperation {
     final protected String _oldColumnName;
     final protected String _newColumnName;
 
+    @JsonCreator
     public ColumnRenameOperation(
+        @JsonProperty("oldColumnName")
         String oldColumnName,
+        @JsonProperty("newColumnName")
         String newColumnName
     ) {
         _oldColumnName = oldColumnName;
diff --git a/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/operations/column/ColumnRenameOperationTests.java b/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/operations/column/ColumnRenameOperationTests.java
index b75a8ebb5..7801cdb49 100644
--- a/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/operations/column/ColumnRenameOperationTests.java
+++ b/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/operations/column/ColumnRenameOperationTests.java
@@ -1,14 +1,14 @@
 package com.google.refine.tests.operations.column;
 
-import org.json.JSONException;
-import org.json.JSONObject;
 import org.testng.annotations.BeforeSuite;
 import org.testng.annotations.Test;
 
+import com.google.refine.model.AbstractOperation;
 import com.google.refine.operations.OperationRegistry;
 import com.google.refine.operations.column.ColumnRenameOperation;
 import com.google.refine.tests.RefineTest;
 import com.google.refine.tests.util.TestUtils;
+import com.google.refine.util.ParsingUtilities;
 
 
 public class ColumnRenameOperationTests extends RefineTest {
@@ -19,15 +19,12 @@ public class ColumnRenameOperationTests extends RefineTest {
     }
     
     @Test
-    public void serializeColumnRenameOperation() throws JSONException, Exception {
+    public void serializeColumnRenameOperation() throws Exception {
         String json = "{\"op\":\"core/column-rename\","
                 + "\"description\":\"Rename column old name to new name\","
                 + "\"oldColumnName\":\"old name\","
                 + "\"newColumnName\":\"new name\"}";
-        JSONObject obj = new JSONObject(json);
-        TestUtils.isSerializedTo(new ColumnRenameOperation(
-            obj.getString("oldColumnName"),
-            obj.getString("newColumnName")
-        ), json);
+        AbstractOperation op = ParsingUtilities.mapper.readValue(json, AbstractOperation.class);
+        TestUtils.isSerializedTo(op, json);
     }
 }