diff --git a/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.js b/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.js
index 65563d3c1..b977f1e57 100644
--- a/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.js
+++ b/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.js
@@ -74,9 +74,10 @@ ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.prototype.getRendering = function () {
  * @return {jQuery|null}
  */
 ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.prototype.getReuseWarning = function () {
+	const refModel = ve.dm.MWReferenceModel.static.newFromReferenceNode( this.model );
 	const group = this.getFragment().getDocument().getInternalList()
-		.getNodeGroup( this.model.getAttribute( 'listGroup' ) );
-	const nodes = ve.getProp( group, 'keyedNodes', this.model.getAttribute( 'listKey' ) );
+		.getNodeGroup( refModel.getListGroup() );
+	const nodes = ve.getProp( group, 'keyedNodes', refModel.getListKey() );
 	const usages = nodes && nodes.filter( function ( node ) {
 		return !node.findParent( ve.dm.MWReferencesListNode );
 	} ).length;
@@ -94,7 +95,9 @@ ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.prototype.getReuseWarning = function () {
  * @return {jQuery|null}
  */
 ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.prototype.getExtendsWarning = function () {
-	if ( this.model.getAttribute( 'extendsRef' ) ) {
+	const refModel = ve.dm.MWReferenceModel.static.newFromReferenceNode( this.model );
+
+	if ( refModel.extendsRef ) {
 		return $( '<div>' )
 			.addClass( 've-ui-mwReferenceContextItem-muted' )
 			.text( mw.msg( 'cite-ve-dialog-reference-editing-extends' ) );
@@ -111,8 +114,9 @@ ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.prototype.getReferenceNode = function () {
 		return null;
 	}
 	if ( !this.referenceNode ) {
+		const refModel = ve.dm.MWReferenceModel.static.newFromReferenceNode( this.model );
 		this.referenceNode = this.getFragment().getDocument().getInternalList()
-			.getItemNode( this.model.getAttribute( 'listIndex' ) );
+			.getItemNode( refModel.getListIndex() );
 	}
 	return this.referenceNode;
 };
@@ -131,12 +135,12 @@ ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.prototype.getDescription = function () {
  * @return {string|null}
  */
 ve.ui.MWReferenceContextItem.prototype.getParentRef = function () {
-	const extendsRef = this.model.getAttribute( 'extendsRef' );
-	if ( !extendsRef ) {
+	const refModel = ve.dm.MWReferenceModel.static.newFromReferenceNode( this.model );
+	if ( !refModel.extendsRef ) {
 		return null;
 	}
 	const list = this.getFragment().getDocument().getInternalList();
-	const index = list.keys.indexOf( 'literal/' + extendsRef );
+	const index = list.keys.indexOf( 'literal/' + refModel.extendsRef );
 	return list.getItemNode( index ).element.attributes.originalHtml;
 };
 
diff --git a/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceDialog.js b/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceDialog.js
index e6a85cc31..025a5f58e 100644
--- a/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceDialog.js
+++ b/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceDialog.js
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ ve.ui.MWReferenceDialog.prototype.onReferenceGroupInputChange = function () {
  * @param {ve.ui.MWReferenceResultWidget} item Chosen item
  */
 ve.ui.MWReferenceDialog.prototype.onSearchResultsChoose = function ( item ) {
-	const ref = ve.dm.MWReferenceModel.static.newFromReferenceNode( item.getData() );
+	const ref = item.getData();
 
 	if ( this.selectedNode instanceof ve.dm.MWReferenceNode ) {
 		this.getFragment().removeContent();
diff --git a/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceSearchWidget.js b/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceSearchWidget.js
index d601491cb..f5f23a755 100644
--- a/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceSearchWidget.js
+++ b/modules/ve-cite/ve.ui.MWReferenceSearchWidget.js
@@ -138,13 +138,13 @@ ve.ui.MWReferenceSearchWidget.prototype.buildIndex = function () {
 			}
 			// Only increment counter for real references
 			n++;
-			const itemNode = this.internalList.getItemNode( refNode.getAttribute( 'listIndex' ) );
+			const refModel = ve.dm.MWReferenceModel.static.newFromReferenceNode( refNode );
+			const itemNode = this.internalList.getItemNode( refModel.getListIndex() );
 
-			const refGroup = refNode.getAttribute( 'refGroup' );
+			const refGroup = refModel.getGroup();
 			const citation = ( refGroup && refGroup.length ? refGroup + ' ' : '' ) + n;
 			// Use [\s\S]* instead of .* to catch esoteric whitespace (T263698)
-			// TODO: pass through mw-data name instead
-			const matches = refNode.getAttribute( 'listKey' ).match( /^literal\/([\s\S]*)$/ );
+			const matches = refModel.getListKey().match( /^literal\/([\s\S]*)$/ );
 			const name = matches && matches[ 1 ] || '';
 
 			// TODO: At some point we need to make sure this text is updated in
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ ve.ui.MWReferenceSearchWidget.prototype.buildIndex = function () {
 			this.index.push( {
 				$element: $element,
 				text: text,
-				reference: refNode,
+				reference: refModel,
 				citation: citation,
 				name: name
 			} );