diff --git a/src/python/dm/daq_web_service/service/experimentSessionController.py b/src/python/dm/daq_web_service/service/experimentSessionController.py
index 17feb3ef2add697112a674a5c34d8f3a68a4ce61..4e9b4be299d1e9627d0c2fd4e2bb565dd5059b02 100755
--- a/src/python/dm/daq_web_service/service/experimentSessionController.py
+++ b/src/python/dm/daq_web_service/service/experimentSessionController.py
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ class ExperimentSessionController(DmSessionController):
         encodedDaqInfo = kwargs.get('daqInfo')
         if encodedDaqInfo is not None:
             daqInfo = json.loads(Encoder.decode(encodedDaqInfo))
+        else:
+            daqInfo['experimentName'] = experimentName
+            daqInfo['dataDirectory'] = dataDirectory
         response = self.experimentSessionControllerImpl.startDaq(experimentName, dataDirectory, daqInfo).getFullJsonRep()
         self.logger.debug('Returning: %s' % response)
         return response