diff --git a/server_structs/director.go b/server_structs/director.go
index 316df7d43..d65ddd1d5 100644
--- a/server_structs/director.go
+++ b/server_structs/director.go
@@ -45,13 +45,21 @@ type (
 		CredentialIssuer url.URL      `json:"issuer"`
 	}
 
-	// Note that the json are kept in uppercase for backward compatibility
+	// A struct for unmarshalling the old JSON while we stage the breaking change across releases
+	OldCapabilities struct {
+		PublicRead   bool
+		Read         bool
+		Write        bool
+		Listing      bool
+		FallBackRead bool
+	}
+
 	Capabilities struct {
-		PublicReads bool `json:"PublicRead"`
-		Reads       bool `json:"Read"`
-		Writes      bool `json:"Write"`
-		Listings    bool `json:"Listing"`
-		DirectReads bool `json:"FallBackRead"`
+		PublicReads bool
+		Reads       bool
+		Writes      bool
+		Listings    bool
+		DirectReads bool
 	}
 
 	NamespaceAdV2 struct {
@@ -179,6 +187,53 @@ type (
 	}
 )
 
+// A helper function to handle JSON->NSAdV2 unmarshalling across multiple deprecated JSON keys.
+//
+// When the Director sends a list of NamespaceAdV2 structs as JSON, it may contain
+// the old capabilities struct. This function checks if the raw JSON contains the
+// "FallbackRead" field, indicating the old capabilities struct, and unmarshals
+// the JSON into the new struct accordingly. This is to ensure backwards compatibility
+// We can probably think about removing this function when we don't see origins/directors
+// running Pelican <= v7.11.0.
+func (n *NamespaceAdV2) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
+	// Use alias struct of NamespaceAdV2 to prevent infinite recursion of UnmarshalJSON
+	type Alias NamespaceAdV2
+	aux := &struct {
+		Caps json.RawMessage `json:"Caps"`
+		*Alias
+	}{
+		Alias: (*Alias)(n),
+	}
+
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &aux); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// Check if the raw Caps JSON contains "FallbackRead", indicating
+	// the old caps struct. Since the struct-to-JSON code has never included
+	// 'omitempty', we can safely assume that the field is ALWAYS present in
+	// old versions of the JSON.
+	if strings.Contains(string(aux.Caps), "FallBackRead") {
+		var oldCaps OldCapabilities
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(aux.Caps, &oldCaps); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		// Map old capabilities to new capabilities
+		n.Caps.PublicReads = oldCaps.PublicRead
+		n.Caps.Reads = oldCaps.Read
+		n.Caps.Writes = oldCaps.Write
+		n.Caps.Listings = oldCaps.Listing
+		n.Caps.DirectReads = oldCaps.FallBackRead
+	} else {
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(aux.Caps, &n.Caps); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 func (x XPelNs) GetName() string {
 	return "X-Pelican-Namespace"
 }
diff --git a/server_structs/director_test.go b/server_structs/director_test.go
index c05e1b1f1..3364866bf 100644
--- a/server_structs/director_test.go
+++ b/server_structs/director_test.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 package server_structs
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
@@ -281,3 +282,49 @@ func TestXPelTokGenParsing(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.Len(t, xPelTokGen.BasePaths, 0)
 	})
 }
+
+func TestNSAdV2UnmarshalJSON(t *testing.T) {
+	oldJSON := `{"PublicRead":true,"Caps":{"PublicRead":true,"Read":true,"Write":false,"Listing":false,"FallBackRead":true},"path":"/ncar","token-generation":[{"strategy":"","vault-server":"","max-scope-depth":0,"issuer":{"Scheme":"","Opaque":"","User":null,"Host":"","Path":"","RawPath":"","OmitHost":false,"ForceQuery":false,"RawQuery":"","Fragment":"","RawFragment":""}}],"token-issuer":[],"from-topology":true}`
+	newJSON := `{"Caps":{"PublicReads":false,"Reads":true,"Writes":false,"Listings":false,"DirectReads":true},"path":"/ncar","token-generation":[{"strategy":"","vault-server":"","max-scope-depth":0,"issuer":{"Scheme":"","Opaque":"","User":null,"Host":"","Path":"","RawPath":"","OmitHost":false,"ForceQuery":false,"RawQuery":"","Fragment":"","RawFragment":""}}],"token-issuer":[],"from-topology":true}`
+
+	tests := []struct {
+		name     string
+		jsonData string
+		expected Capabilities
+	}{
+		{
+			name:     "Old JSON format",
+			jsonData: oldJSON,
+			expected: Capabilities{
+				PublicReads: true,
+				Reads:       true,
+				Writes:      false,
+				Listings:    false,
+				DirectReads: true,
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:     "New JSON format",
+			jsonData: newJSON,
+			expected: Capabilities{
+				PublicReads: false,
+				Reads:       true,
+				Writes:      false,
+				Listings:    false,
+				DirectReads: true,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			var ns NamespaceAdV2
+			if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(tt.jsonData), &ns); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("UnmarshalJSON() error = %v", err)
+			}
+			if ns.Caps != tt.expected {
+				t.Errorf("UnmarshalJSON() = %v, want %v", ns.Caps, tt.expected)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}