diff --git a/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/controller/QueryReferenceController.java b/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/controller/QueryReferenceController.java
index cd5ab0a..1b1fc8b 100644
--- a/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/controller/QueryReferenceController.java
+++ b/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/controller/QueryReferenceController.java
@@ -93,6 +93,9 @@
 
         try {
             scopeService.verifyScope(context, OAuth2Scope.EDIT_VC);
+            if (query.getQueryType() == null) {
+                query.setQueryType(QueryType.QUERY);
+            }
             Status status = service.handlePutRequest(context.getUsername(),
                     qCreator, qName, query);
             return Response.status(status).build();
diff --git a/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/controller/VirtualCorpusController.java b/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/controller/VirtualCorpusController.java
index eecb1b3..4b6a00d 100644
--- a/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/controller/VirtualCorpusController.java
+++ b/full/src/main/java/de/ids_mannheim/korap/web/controller/VirtualCorpusController.java
@@ -106,6 +106,9 @@
 
         try {
             scopeService.verifyScope(context, OAuth2Scope.EDIT_VC);
+            if (vc.getQueryType() == null) {
+                vc.setQueryType(QueryType.VIRTUAL_CORPUS);
+            }
             Status status = service.handlePutRequest(context.getUsername(),
                     vcCreator, vcName, vc);
             return Response.status(status).build();