Trying to update a nodereference CCK field in the node but it never accepts the values

If I do a node get I get the following section for a node (that I have put the related node into)

    [field_company] => Array
        (
            [0] => Array
                (
                    [nid] => 2
                )

        )

And when I do a node get on that node it returns

 'field_company': [{'nid': '2'}],

so far so good, but when I then put that same value into a node save

like so

self.field_company = [{'nid':2}]

And do a save on the object, the field_company is then empty.

 'field_company': [{'nid': ''}],

All my other CCK values work ok, is this an issue with the services module or nodereference module?

I have tried to search for a explanation but so far only drawn a blank.