diff --git a/src/Parsoid/Ref.php b/src/Parsoid/Ref.php
index 3dd681c05..508635c0e 100644
--- a/src/Parsoid/Ref.php
+++ b/src/Parsoid/Ref.php
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ class Ref extends ExtensionTagHandler {
 				if ( $hasRefName ) {
 					// Follow content may have been added as spans, so drop it
 					if ( DOMCompat::querySelector( $bodyElt, "span[typeof~='mw:Cite/Follow']" ) ) {
-						$bodyElt = $bodyElt->cloneNode( true );
+						$bodyElt = DOMDataUtils::cloneNode( $bodyElt, true );
 						foreach ( $bodyElt->childNodes as $child ) {
 							if ( DOMUtils::hasTypeOf( $child, 'mw:Cite/Follow' ) ) {
 								// @phan-suppress-next-line PhanTypeMismatchArgumentSuperType