diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index a658735d2c..01a1bad1b6 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
     "cid-tool": "~0.4.0",
     "cids": "~0.7.1",
     "class-is": "^1.1.0",
-    "dag-cbor-links": "^1.3.0",
+    "dag-cbor-links": "^1.3.2",
     "datastore-core": "~0.7.0",
     "datastore-pubsub": "^0.2.1",
     "debug": "^4.1.0",
diff --git a/src/cli/commands/dag/put.js b/src/cli/commands/dag/put.js
index 45ebd0345c..5c469d8c6c 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands/dag/put.js
+++ b/src/cli/commands/dag/put.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ const mh = require('multihashes')
 const multibase = require('multibase')
 const dagCBOR = require('ipld-dag-cbor')
 const dagPB = require('ipld-dag-pb')
+const CID = require('cids')
 const { cidToString } = require('../../../utils/cid')
 
 const inputDecoders = {
@@ -109,6 +110,12 @@ module.exports = {
 
       source = inputDecoders[inputEncoding](source)
 
+      // Support legacy { "/" : "<CID>" } format so dag put is actually useful
+      // on the command line: https://github.com/ipld/js-ipld-dag-cbor/issues/84
+      if (inputEncoding === 'json' && format === 'dag-cbor') {
+        source = objectSlashToCID(source)
+      }
+
       const cid = await ipfs.dag.put(source, {
         format,
         hashAlg,
@@ -122,3 +129,26 @@ module.exports = {
     })())
   }
 }
+
+function objectSlashToCID (obj) {
+  if (Array.isArray(obj)) {
+    return obj.map(objectSlashToCID)
+  }
+
+  if (obj && typeof obj === 'object') {
+    const keys = Object.keys(obj)
+    if (keys.length === 1 && '/' in obj) {
+      if (typeof obj['/'] !== 'string') {
+        throw new Error('link should have been a string')
+      }
+      return new CID(obj['/']) // throws if not a CID - consistent with go-ipfs
+    }
+
+    return keys.reduce((obj, key) => {
+      obj[key] = objectSlashToCID(obj[key])
+      return obj
+    }, obj)
+  }
+
+  return obj
+}
diff --git a/test/cli/dag.js b/test/cli/dag.js
index cab2460864..dcd8521573 100644
--- a/test/cli/dag.js
+++ b/test/cli/dag.js
@@ -135,5 +135,30 @@ describe('dag', () => runOnAndOff.off((thing) => {
       const out = await ipfs('pin ls')
       expect(out).to.include(cid)
     })
+
+    it('puts a cbor node with a legacy { "/": "<CID>" } links', async function () {
+      this.timeout(20 * 1000)
+
+      const input = `dag api rulz ${Date.now()}`
+
+      const linkedCid = (await ipfs('dag put', {
+        input: Buffer.from(`"${input}"`)
+      })).trim()
+
+      const cid = (await ipfs('dag put', {
+        input: Buffer.from(JSON.stringify({
+          link: { '/': linkedCid },
+          arrayLink: [{ '/': linkedCid }],
+          data: { test: Date.now() },
+          noData: null
+        }))
+      })).trim()
+
+      const out0 = (await ipfs(`dag get ${cid}/link`)).trim()
+      expect(out0).to.equal(input)
+
+      const out1 = (await ipfs(`dag get ${cid}/arrayLink/0`)).trim()
+      expect(out1).to.equal(input)
+    })
   })
 }))