diff --git a/lib/audited/audit.rb b/lib/audited/audit.rb
index bf78a266..723faf4f 100644
--- a/lib/audited/audit.rb
+++ b/lib/audited/audit.rb
@@ -19,7 +19,12 @@ class YAMLIfTextColumnType
     class << self
       def load(obj)
         if text_column?
-          ActiveRecord::Coders::YAMLColumn.new(Object).load(obj)
+          begin
+            ActiveRecord::Coders::YAMLColumn.new(Object).load(obj)
+          rescue Psych::SyntaxError
+            obj = obj.gsub("=>", ":")
+            ActiveRecord::Coders::YAMLColumn.new(Object).load(obj)
+          end
         else
           obj
         end