diff --git a/lib/ext/Cite.js b/lib/ext/Cite.js
index b28f0494b..7b77735ce 100644
--- a/lib/ext/Cite.js
+++ b/lib/ext/Cite.js
@@ -484,32 +484,24 @@ References.prototype.extractRefFromNode = function(node, refsData,
 References.prototype.insertReferencesIntoDOM = function(refsNode, refsData, refsInReferencesHTML) {
 	var dp = DU.getDataParsoid(refsNode);
 	var group = dp.group || '';
-	var src = dp.src || '<references/>';  // fall back so we don't crash
-	// Extract ext-source for <references>..</references> usage
-	var body = Util.extractExtBody("references", src).trim();
-	var refGroup = refsData.getRefGroup(group);
 
 	var dataMw =  DU.getDataMw(refsNode);
 	if (!Object.keys(dataMw).length) {
-		var datamwBody;
-		// We'll have to output data-mw.body.extsrc in
-		// scenarios where original wikitext was of the form:
-		// "<references> lot of refs here </references>"
-		// Ex: See [[en:Barack Obama]]
-		if (body.length > 0) {
-			datamwBody = {
-				'extsrc': body,
-				'html': refsInReferencesHTML.join(''),
-			};
-		}
 		dataMw = {
 			'name': 'references',
-			'body': datamwBody,
 			'attrs': {
 				// Dont emit empty keys
 				'group': group || undefined,
 			},
 		};
+
+		var src = dp.src || '<references/>';  // fall back so we don't crash
+		// Extract ext-source for <references>..</references> usage
+		var body = Util.extractExtBody('references', src).trim();
+		if (body.length > 0) {
+			dataMw.body = { 'html': refsInReferencesHTML.join('') };
+		}
+
 		DU.setDataMw(refsNode, dataMw);
 	}
 
@@ -522,6 +514,7 @@ References.prototype.insertReferencesIntoDOM = function(refsNode, refsData, refs
 		refsNode.removeChild(refsNode.firstChild);
 	}
 
+	var refGroup = refsData.getRefGroup(group);
 	if (refGroup) {
 		refGroup.refs.forEach(refGroup.renderLine.bind(refGroup, refsNode));
 	}