diff --git a/includes/api/class-wc-api-products.php b/includes/api/class-wc-api-products.php
index cb0f5ffbe90..b78bddd9766 100644
--- a/includes/api/class-wc-api-products.php
+++ b/includes/api/class-wc-api-products.php
@@ -1136,13 +1136,13 @@ class WC_API_Products extends WC_API_Resource {
 
 		// Product categories
 		if ( isset( $data['categories'] ) && is_array( $data['categories'] ) ) {
-			$terms = array_map( 'wc_clean', $data['categories'] );
-			wp_set_object_terms( $product_id, $terms, 'product_cat' );
+			$term_ids = array_unique( array_map( 'intval', $data['categories'] ) );
+			wp_set_object_terms( $product_id, $term_ids, 'product_cat' );
 		}
 
 		// Product tags
 		if ( isset( $data['tags'] ) && is_array( $data['tags'] ) ) {
-			$terms = array_map( 'wc_clean', $data['tags'] );
+			$term_ids = array_unique( array_map( 'intval', $data['tags'] ) );
 			wp_set_object_terms( $product_id, $terms, 'product_tag' );
 		}