diff --git a/CHANGES/7677.bugfix b/CHANGES/7677.bugfix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ecedf6c8d6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES/7677.bugfix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Allow nested downloader_config to be passed json stringified.
diff --git a/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_crud_content_unit.py b/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_crud_content_unit.py
index bf7fbe19bde..04aedc53d4b 100644
--- a/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_crud_content_unit.py
+++ b/pulp_file/tests/functional/api/test_crud_content_unit.py
@@ -296,7 +296,11 @@ def test_create_file_from_url(
 ):
     # Test create w/ url
     remote = file_remote_factory(manifest_path=basic_manifest_path)
-    body = {"file_url": remote.url, "relative_path": "PULP_MANIFEST"}
+    body = {
+        "file_url": remote.url,
+        "relative_path": "PULP_MANIFEST",
+        "downloader_config": {"total_timeout": 5},
+    }
     response = file_bindings.ContentFilesApi.create(**body)
     task = monitor_task(response.task)
     assert len(task.created_resources) == 1
diff --git a/pulpcore/app/serializers/base.py b/pulpcore/app/serializers/base.py
index 17d26c3b5fd..b130449f262 100644
--- a/pulpcore/app/serializers/base.py
+++ b/pulpcore/app/serializers/base.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import functools
+import json
 import re
 import traceback
 from collections import namedtuple
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ def to_internal_value(self, data):
         return super().to_internal_value(data)
 
 
-class _MatchingRegexViewName(object):
+class _MatchingRegexViewName:
     """This is a helper class to help defining object matching rules for master-detail.
 
     If you can be specific, please specify the `view_name`, but if you cannot, this allows
@@ -778,6 +779,17 @@ def _validate_certificate(which_cert, value):
                     "Invalid {} specified, error '{}'".format(which_cert, e.args)
                 )
 
+    def to_internal_value(self, data):
+        if isinstance(data, str):
+            try:
+                # Nested Serializers in from-urlencoded bodies are stringified as json by default.
+                data = json.loads(data)
+            except json.DecodeError:
+                raise serializers.ValidationError(
+                    "Invalid json data for (nested) downloader config."
+                )
+        return super().to_internal_value(data)
+
     def validate(self, data):
         """
         Check that proxy credentials are only provided completely and if a proxy is configured.