diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwlua/luabindings.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwlua/luabindings.cpp
index a204287b88..5918095707 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwlua/luabindings.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwlua/luabindings.cpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include <components/lua/l10n.hpp>
 #include <components/lua/luastate.hpp>
 #include <components/lua/utilpackage.hpp>
+#include <components/misc/strings/lower.hpp>
 
 #include "../mwbase/environment.hpp"
 #include "../mwbase/statemanager.hpp"
@@ -157,15 +158,16 @@ namespace MWLua
         };
 
         // TODO: deprecate this and provide access to the store instead
-        sol::table skill(context.mLua->sol(), sol::create);
-        api["SKILL"] = LuaUtil::makeStrictReadOnly(skill);
+        sol::table skills(context.mLua->sol(), sol::create);
+        api["SKILL"] = LuaUtil::makeStrictReadOnly(skills);
         for (int i = 0; i < ESM::Skill::Length; ++i)
         {
-            std::string id = ESM::Skill::indexToRefId(i).serializeText();
-            std::string key = id;
+            ESM::RefId skill = ESM::Skill::indexToRefId(i);
+            std::string id = skill.serializeText();
+            std::string key = Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(skill.getRefIdString());
             // force first character to uppercase for backwards compatability
             key[0] += 'A' - 'a';
-            skill[key] = id;
+            skills[key] = id;
         }
 
         sol::table attribute(context.mLua->sol(), sol::create);
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwlua/magicbindings.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwlua/magicbindings.cpp
index 6247fc6216..586c50be6d 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwlua/magicbindings.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwlua/magicbindings.cpp
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@ namespace MWLua
 
                 if (rec->mData.mFlags & ESM::MagicEffect::TargetSkill)
                 {
-                    ESM::RefId skill = ESM::RefId::stringRefId(argStr.value());
+                    ESM::RefId skill = ESM::RefId::deserializeText(argStr.value());
                     key = MWMechanics::EffectKey(id, ESM::Skill::refIdToIndex(skill));
                 }
             }
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwlua/types/book.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwlua/types/book.cpp
index 97e51059d0..4b40837604 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwlua/types/book.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwlua/types/book.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ namespace
         book.mData.mValue = rec["value"];
         book.mData.mIsScroll = rec["isScroll"];
 
-        ESM::RefId skill = ESM::RefId::stringRefId(rec["skill"].get<std::string_view>());
+        ESM::RefId skill = ESM::RefId::deserializeText(rec["skill"].get<std::string_view>());
 
         book.mData.mSkillId = -1;
         if (!skill.empty())