Title: Unserialize error
Last modified: May 5, 2026

---

# Unserialize error

 *  Resolved [Mike Meinz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikemeinz/)
 * (@mikemeinz)
 * [6 days, 18 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/unserialize-error-8/)
 * Query Monitor plugin flagged this error in Advanced Custom FIelds Pro:
   “unserialize():
   Error at offset 106 of 284 bytes”
    1.  wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/acf-helper-functions.
        php:663
    2.  `acf_maybe_unserialize()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/
        acf-helper-functions.php:663
    3.  `acf_get_raw_field()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/
        acf-field-functions.php:108
    4.  `acf_get_raw_fields()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/
        acf-field-functions.php:448
    5.  `acf_get_fields()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/acf-
        field-functions.php:381
    6.  `acf_field_repeater->load_field()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-
        pro/pro/fields/class-acf-field-repeater.php:96
    7.  `apply_filters_ref_array('acf/load_field/type=repeater')`
        wp-content/plugins/
        advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/acf-hook-functions.php:118
    8.  `_acf_apply_hook_variations()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/
        includes/acf-hook-functions.php:118
    9.  `apply_filters('acf/load_field')`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-
        pro/includes/acf-field-functions.php:70
    10. `acf_get_field()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/acf-
        field-functions.php:70
    11. `acf_get_meta_field()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/
        acf-meta-functions.php:285
    12. `acf_maybe_get_field()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/
        api/api-template.php:312
    13. `get_field_object()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/
        api/api-template.php:248
    14. `have_rows()`
        wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-pro/includes/api/api-
        template.php:606
    15. `require(wp-content/themes/eastlyme/widget-quick-links.php)`
        wp-content/themes/
        eastlyme/widget-quick-links.php:5
    16. `ACFW_Widget->widget()`
        wp-content/plugins/acf-widgets/includes/ACFW_Widget.
        php:93
    17. `WP_Widget->display_callback()`
        wp-includes/class-wp-widget.php:394
    18. `dynamic_sidebar('sidebar-3')`
        wp-includes/widgets.php:845
    19. `require_once(wp-content/themes/eastlyme/sidebar-quick-links.php)`
        wp-content/
        themes/eastlyme/sidebar-quick-links.php:26
    20. `load_template(wp-content/themes/eastlyme/sidebar-quick-links.php)`
        wp-includes/
        template.php:814
    21. `locate_template()`
        wp-includes/template.php:749
    22. `get_sidebar('quick-links')`
        wp-includes/general-template.php:136
    23. `require_once(wp-content/themes/eastlyme/header.php)`
        wp-content/themes/eastlyme/
        header.php:109
    24. `load_template(wp-content/themes/eastlyme/header.php)`
        wp-includes/template.
        php:814
    25. `locate_template()`
        wp-includes/template.php:749
    26. `get_header()`
        wp-includes/general-template.php:48
 * Advanced Custom Fields Pro Version 6.8.0.1
   WordPress Version 6.9.4
 * The page I need help with: _[[log in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Funserialize-error-8%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
   to see the link]_

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  [patroba](https://wordpress.org/support/users/patroba/)
 * (@patroba)
 * [6 days, 11 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/unserialize-error-8/#post-18900175)
 * Hi [@mikemeinz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikemeinz/),
 * Thanks for reaching out and providing that detailed Query Monitor stack trace!
   I know database errors can look quite alarming when they suddenly pop up on your
   dashboard.
 * That specific `unserialize()` error indicates that a serialized string in your
   WordPress database has been corrupted. Based on your stack trace, it looks like
   the configuration or saved data for a Repeater field inside your ACF widget has
   malformed byte counts. This almost always happens immediately following a site
   migration or a database search-and-replace operation that didn’t properly handle
   serialized PHP arrays, such as updating a URL where the string length changes
   but the serialized count does not.
 * To fix this, the corrupted data or the field group itself needs to be re-saved
   to regenerate the correct serialized string. Since fixing database serialization
   can get a bit technical, please feel free to open a [direct support ticket](https://www.advancedcustomfields.com/contact/)
   so our team can help you safely analyze and troubleshoot your specific widget
   and field setup!
 * Best regards,
   Patroba
 *  Thread Starter [Mike Meinz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikemeinz/)
 * (@mikemeinz)
 * [5 days, 3 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/unserialize-error-8/#post-18901550)
 * After further research, I found that a row in wp_posts that was the definition
   of a ACF Text field for a link_url contained a malformed URL in the post_content
   column. The URL value in the post_content serialized string should have been 
   empty. 
   I modified the ACF field by adding a text length limit in Edit Field 
   Group and saved it. That regenerated the post_content column in the database 
   eliminating the malformed URL. That solved the problem.
 *  [patroba](https://wordpress.org/support/users/patroba/)
 * (@patroba)
 * [15 hours, 59 minutes ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/unserialize-error-8/#post-18905187)
 * Hi [@mikemeinz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mikemeinz/),
 * Awesome detective work! Thank you so much for following up and sharing your exact
   solution with the community. Updating and re-saving the field group is the perfect
   way to force WordPress to regenerate that serialized `post_content` string with
   the correct byte counts, so you handled that flawlessly.
 * I’m thrilled to hear you got it completely resolved! If you ever run into any
   other questions or need a hand with anything else in the future, please don’t
   hesitate to reach out. Have a fantastic rest of your week!
 * Best regards,
   Patroba

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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 * 3 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [patroba](https://wordpress.org/support/users/patroba/)
 * Last activity: [15 hours, 59 minutes ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/unserialize-error-8/#post-18905187)
 * Status: resolved