diff --git a/zerver/lib/export.py b/zerver/lib/export.py
index 8583c7455b..389175c666 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/export.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/export.py
@@ -420,6 +420,8 @@ def make_raw(query: Any, exclude: Optional[List[Field]] = None) -> List[Record]:
         instances below.
         """
         for field in instance._meta.many_to_many:
+            if exclude is not None and field.name in exclude:
+                continue
             value = data[field.name]
             data[field.name] = [row.id for row in value]
 
@@ -775,6 +777,7 @@ def get_realm_config() -> Config:
         model=UserGroup,
         normal_parent=realm_config,
         include_rows="realm_id__in",
+        exclude=["direct_members", "direct_subgroups"],
     )
 
     Config(
diff --git a/zerver/lib/import_realm.py b/zerver/lib/import_realm.py
index a1a997427d..9cc5c73682 100644
--- a/zerver/lib/import_realm.py
+++ b/zerver/lib/import_realm.py
@@ -1171,12 +1171,6 @@ def do_import_realm(import_dir: Path, subdomain: str, processes: int = 1) -> Rea
 
     if "zerver_usergroup" in data:
         re_map_foreign_keys(data, "zerver_usergroup", "realm", related_table="realm")
-        re_map_foreign_keys_many_to_many(
-            data, "zerver_usergroup", "direct_members", related_table="user_profile"
-        )
-        re_map_foreign_keys_many_to_many(
-            data, "zerver_usergroup", "direct_subgroups", related_table="usergroup"
-        )
         update_model_ids(UserGroup, data, "usergroup")
         bulk_import_model(data, UserGroup)
 
diff --git a/zerver/tests/test_import_export.py b/zerver/tests/test_import_export.py
index eba728e658..cf0ae14442 100644
--- a/zerver/tests/test_import_export.py
+++ b/zerver/tests/test_import_export.py
@@ -435,6 +435,12 @@ class RealmImportExportTest(ExportFile):
         self.assert_length(exported_realm_user_default, 1)
         self.assertEqual(exported_realm_user_default[0]["default_language"], "de")
 
+        exported_usergroups = data["zerver_usergroup"]
+        self.assert_length(exported_usergroups, 8)
+        self.assertEqual(exported_usergroups[1]["name"], "@role:administrators")
+        self.assertFalse("direct_members" in exported_usergroups[1])
+        self.assertFalse("direct_subgroups" in exported_usergroups[1])
+
         data = read_json("messages-000001.json")
         um = UserMessage.objects.all()[0]
         exported_um = self.find_by_id(data["zerver_usermessage"], um.id)
@@ -1132,6 +1138,26 @@ class RealmImportExportTest(ExportFile):
             subgroups = {membership.subgroup.name for membership in group_group_membership}
             return subgroups
 
+        @getter
+        def get_user_group_direct_members(r: Realm) -> Set[str]:
+            # We already check the members of the group through UserGroupMembership
+            # objects, but we also want to check direct_members field is set
+            # correctly since we do not include this in export data.
+            usergroup = UserGroup.objects.get(realm=r, name="hamletcharacters")
+            direct_members = usergroup.direct_members.all()
+            direct_member_emails = {user.email for user in direct_members}
+            return direct_member_emails
+
+        @getter
+        def get_user_group_direct_subgroups(r: Realm) -> Set[str]:
+            # We already check the subgroups of the group through GroupGroupMembership
+            # objects, but we also want to check that direct_subgroups field is set
+            # correctly since we do not include this in export data.
+            usergroup = UserGroup.objects.get(realm=r, name="@role:members")
+            direct_subgroups = usergroup.direct_subgroups.all()
+            direct_subgroup_names = {group.name for group in direct_subgroups}
+            return direct_subgroup_names
+
         # test botstoragedata and botconfigdata
         @getter
         def get_botstoragedata(r: Realm) -> Dict[str, object]: