diff --git a/d2graph/serde.go b/d2graph/serde.go
index 76e83ae2c..638e2bc82 100644
--- a/d2graph/serde.go
+++ b/d2graph/serde.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package d2graph
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
-	"strings"
 
 	"oss.terrastruct.com/util-go/go2"
 )
@@ -49,7 +48,7 @@ func DeserializeGraph(bytes []byte, g *Graph) error {
 			for _, id := range so["ChildrenArray"].([]interface{}) {
 				o := idToObj[id.(string)]
 				childrenArray = append(childrenArray, o)
-				children[strings.ToLower(id.(string))] = o
+				children[o.IDVal] = o
 
 				o.Parent = idToObj[so["AbsID"].(string)]
 			}
diff --git a/d2graph/serde_test.go b/d2graph/serde_test.go
index 070400f20..e882c8fba 100644
--- a/d2graph/serde_test.go
+++ b/d2graph/serde_test.go
@@ -31,6 +31,12 @@ func TestSerialization(t *testing.T) {
 			g.Root.ChildrenArray[0].Parent,
 		)
 
+		a := g.Root.ChildrenArray[0]
+		aa := a.ChildrenArray[0]
+		assert.Contains(t, a.Children, "a")
+		assert.Contains(t, aa.Children, "b")
+		assert.Contains(t, aa.Children, "c")
+
 		assert.Equal(t, 1, len(g.Edges))
 		assert.Equal(t, "b", g.Edges[0].Src.ID)
 		assert.Equal(t, "c", g.Edges[0].Dst.ID)