diff --git a/netbox/dcim/forms.py b/netbox/dcim/forms.py
index ce0ab141c..39e9af30e 100644
--- a/netbox/dcim/forms.py
+++ b/netbox/dcim/forms.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from tenancy.models import Tenant, TenantGroup
 from utilities.forms import (
     APISelect, APISelectMultiple, add_blank_choice, BootstrapMixin, BulkEditForm, BulkEditNullBooleanSelect,
     ColorSelect, CommentField, CSVChoiceField, CSVContentTypeField, CSVModelChoiceField, CSVModelForm,
+    DeferredCSVModelChoiceField,
     DynamicModelChoiceField, DynamicModelMultipleChoiceField, ExpandableNameField, form_from_model, JSONField,
     NumericArrayField, SelectWithPK, SmallTextarea, SlugField, StaticSelect2, StaticSelect2Multiple, TagFilterField,
     BOOLEAN_WITH_BLANK_CHOICES,
@@ -3824,15 +3825,19 @@ class CableCSVForm(CustomFieldModelCSVForm):
         limit_choices_to=CABLE_TERMINATION_PARENT_MODELS,
         help_text='Side A parent type'
     )
-    side_a_parent_id = forms.IntegerField(
-        help_text='Side A parent ID'
+    side_a_parent = DeferredCSVModelChoiceField(
+        queryset=Device.objects.none(), # this is a standin
+        to_field_name='name',
+        help_text='Side A parent name'
     )
     side_a_type = CSVContentTypeField(
         queryset=ContentType.objects.all(),
         limit_choices_to=CABLE_TERMINATION_MODELS,
         help_text='Side A type'
     )
-    side_a_name = forms.CharField(
+    side_a = DeferredCSVModelChoiceField(
+        queryset=Interface.objects.none(), # this is a standin
+        to_field_name='name',
         help_text='Side A component name'
     )
 
@@ -3842,15 +3847,19 @@ class CableCSVForm(CustomFieldModelCSVForm):
         limit_choices_to=CABLE_TERMINATION_PARENT_MODELS,
         help_text='Side B parent type'
     )
-    side_b_parent_id = forms.IntegerField(
-        help_text='Side B parent ID'
+    side_b_parent = DeferredCSVModelChoiceField(
+        queryset=Device.objects.none(), # this is a standin
+        to_field_name='name',
+        help_text='Side B parent name'
     )
     side_b_type = CSVContentTypeField(
         queryset=ContentType.objects.all(),
         limit_choices_to=CABLE_TERMINATION_MODELS,
         help_text='Side B type'
     )
-    side_b_name = forms.CharField(
+    side_b = DeferredCSVModelChoiceField(
+        queryset=Interface.objects.none(), # this is a standin
+        to_field_name='name',
         help_text='Side B component name'
     )
 
@@ -3874,24 +3883,14 @@ class CableCSVForm(CustomFieldModelCSVForm):
     class Meta:
         model = Cable
         fields = [
-            'side_a_parent_type', 'side_a_parent_id', 'side_a_type', 'side_a_name',
-            'side_b_parent_type', 'side_b_parent_id', 'side_b_type', 'side_b_name',
+            'side_a_parent_type', 'side_a_parent', 'side_a_type', 'side_a',
+            'side_b_parent_type', 'side_b_parent', 'side_b_type', 'side_b',
             'type', 'status', 'label', 'color', 'length', 'length_unit',
         ]
         help_texts = {
             'color': mark_safe('RGB color in hexadecimal (e.g. <code>00ff00</code>)'),
         }
 
-    def _get_parent(self, side):
-        parent_type = self.cleaned_data.get(f'side_{side}_parent_type')
-        parent_id = self.cleaned_data.get(f'side_{side}_parent_id')
-        if not parent_type or not parent_id:
-            return None
-
-        model = parent_type.model_class()
-
-        return model.objects.get(pk=parent_id)
-
     def _translate_model(self, parent_type):
         # TODO: maybe we went overboard with making this generic/extensible?
         return {
@@ -3907,19 +3906,19 @@ class CableCSVForm(CustomFieldModelCSVForm):
         assert side in 'ab', f"Invalid side designation: {side}"
 
         parent_type = self.cleaned_data.get(f'side_{side}_parent_type')
-        parent = self._get_parent(side)
+        parent = self.cleaned_data.get(f'side_{side}_parent')
         content_type = self.cleaned_data.get(f'side_{side}_type')
-        name = self.cleaned_data.get(f'side_{side}_name')
-        if not parent or not content_type or not name:
+        if not parent or not content_type:
             return None
 
         model = content_type.model_class()
+        field = self.fields[f'side_{side}']
         try:
             # the parent is named like the model, we utilize that fact for the query
-            termination_object = model.objects.get(**{
-                "name" if hasattr(model, "name") else "pk": name,
+            termination_filter = model.objects.filter(**{
                 self._translate_model(parent_type): parent
             })
+            termination_object = field.get_value(termination_filter)
             if termination_object.cable is not None:
                 raise forms.ValidationError(f"Side {side.upper()}: {parent} {termination_object} is already connected")
         except ObjectDoesNotExist:
@@ -3928,12 +3927,31 @@ class CableCSVForm(CustomFieldModelCSVForm):
         setattr(self.instance, f'termination_{side}', termination_object)
         return termination_object
 
-    def clean_side_a_name(self):
+    def clean_side_a(self):
         return self._clean_side('a')
 
-    def clean_side_b_name(self):
+    def clean_side_b(self):
         return self._clean_side('b')
 
+    def _clean_side_parent(self, side):
+        """
+        Derive a Cable's A/B termination parent.
+
+        :param side: 'a' or 'b'
+        """
+        assert side in 'ab', f"Invalid side designation: {side}"
+
+        parent_type = self.cleaned_data.get(f'side_{side}_parent_type')
+        field = self.fields[f'side_{side}_parent']
+
+        return field.get_value(parent_type.model_class().objects.all())
+
+    def clean_side_a_parent(self):
+        return self._clean_side_parent('a')
+
+    def clean_side_b_parent(self):
+        return self._clean_side_parent('b')
+
     def clean_length_unit(self):
         # Avoid trying to save as NULL
         length_unit = self.cleaned_data.get('length_unit', None)
diff --git a/netbox/dcim/models/cables.py b/netbox/dcim/models/cables.py
index 024003a59..df20138a5 100644
--- a/netbox/dcim/models/cables.py
+++ b/netbox/dcim/models/cables.py
@@ -112,8 +112,8 @@ class Cable(ChangeLoggedModel, CustomFieldModel):
     objects = RestrictedQuerySet.as_manager()
 
     csv_headers = [
-        'side_a_parent_type', 'side_a_parent_id', 'side_a_type', 'side_a_name',
-        'side_b_parent_type', 'side_b_parent_id', 'side_b_type', 'side_b_name',
+        'side_a_parent_type', 'side_a_parent.id', 'side_a_type', 'side_a.id',
+        'side_b_parent_type', 'side_b_parent.id', 'side_b_type', 'side_b.id',
         'type', 'status', 'label', 'color', 'length', 'length_unit',
     ]
 
@@ -285,11 +285,11 @@ class Cable(ChangeLoggedModel, CustomFieldModel):
             '{}.{}'.format(self.termination_a.parent._meta.app_label, self.termination_a.parent._meta.model_name),
             self.termination_a.parent.id,
             '{}.{}'.format(self.termination_a_type.app_label, self.termination_a_type.model),
-            self.termination_a.name if hasattr(self.termination_a, "name") else self.termination_a_id,
+            self.termination_a_id,
             '{}.{}'.format(self.termination_b.parent._meta.app_label, self.termination_b.parent._meta.model_name),
             self.termination_b.parent.id,
             '{}.{}'.format(self.termination_b_type.app_label, self.termination_b_type.model),
-            self.termination_b.name if hasattr(self.termination_b, "name") else self.termination_b_id,
+            self.termination_b_id,
             self.type,
             self.status,
             self.label,
diff --git a/netbox/dcim/tests/test_views.py b/netbox/dcim/tests/test_views.py
index d7d07d463..dacfdb2a0 100644
--- a/netbox/dcim/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/netbox/dcim/tests/test_views.py
@@ -1676,10 +1676,10 @@ class CableTestCase(
         }
 
         cls.csv_data = (
-            "side_a_parent_type,side_a_parent_id,side_a_type,side_a_name,side_b_parent_type,side_b_parent_id,side_b_type,side_b_name",
-            f"dcim.device,{devices[2].pk},dcim.interface,Interface 1,dcim.device,{devices[3].pk},dcim.interface,Interface 1",
-            f"dcim.device,{devices[2].pk},dcim.interface,Interface 2,dcim.device,{devices[3].pk},dcim.interface,Interface 2",
-            f"dcim.device,{devices[2].pk},dcim.interface,Interface 3,dcim.device,{devices[3].pk},dcim.interface,Interface 3",
+            "side_a_parent_type,side_a_parent,side_a_type,side_a,side_b_parent_type,side_b_parent.id,side_b_type,side_b",
+            f"dcim.device,Device 3,dcim.interface,Interface 1,dcim.device,{devices[3].pk},dcim.interface,Interface 1",
+            f"dcim.device,Device 3,dcim.interface,Interface 2,dcim.device,{devices[3].pk},dcim.interface,Interface 2",
+            f"dcim.device,Device 3,dcim.interface,Interface 3,dcim.device,{devices[3].pk},dcim.interface,Interface 3",
         )
 
         cls.bulk_edit_data = {
diff --git a/netbox/utilities/forms/fields.py b/netbox/utilities/forms/fields.py
index fd00a97ae..0c12d86fd 100644
--- a/netbox/utilities/forms/fields.py
+++ b/netbox/utilities/forms/fields.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ __all__ = (
     'CSVContentTypeField',
     'CSVDataField',
     'CSVModelChoiceField',
+    'DeferredCSVModelChoiceField',
     'DynamicModelChoiceField',
     'DynamicModelMultipleChoiceField',
     'ExpandableIPAddressField',
@@ -142,6 +143,29 @@ class CSVModelChoiceField(forms.ModelChoiceField):
             )
 
 
+class DeferredCSVModelChoiceField(CSVModelChoiceField):
+    """
+    Allows to defer querying from to_python
+    """
+    default_error_messages = {
+        'invalid_choice': 'Object not found.',
+    }
+
+    def to_python(self, value):
+        self.value = value
+
+        return value
+
+    def get_value(self, qs):
+        self.queryset = qs
+        try:
+            return super().to_python(self.value)
+        except MultipleObjectsReturned:
+            raise forms.ValidationError(
+                f'"{self.value}" is not a unique value for this field; multiple objects were found'
+            )
+
+
 class CSVContentTypeField(CSVModelChoiceField):
     """
     Reference a ContentType in the form <app>.<model>